Always accessorize

It is a perpetual struggle, to be sure, to persuade young people to use condoms while engaging in practices that, of course, predecessor generations never contemplated. Safe sex does not always trump the proverbial heat of the moment and considerations of sensitivity.

A “more than friendship” bracelet proved an excellent visual reminder of the “no glove, no love” message. Image by: Omid Fotuhi

So we thought we'd suggest a new approach to the old safe sex message: accessorizing. In an elegant — if we do say so ourselves — bit of psychological research, a powerful video was used to instill the importance of condom use in those who self-reported as being among the inconsistently clad. One group then received a bracelet as a visual reminder of their new “no glove, no love” outlook on life. Think of it as a “more-than-friendship” bracelet.

The group was asked to recall stories from the video whenever they looked at the bracelet, to remind them of the dangers of unsafe sex.

The question was, would these simple bracelets serve as adequate reminders when it mattered most?

Because, in a world where less than 1 in 5 young people consistently use a condom, just getting the safe sex message out there isn't enough. The real challenge is getting people to remember its relevance when distracted by red wine, silk sheets and Barry White.

We were delighted to discover, and subsequently report (Health Psychol 2006;25[3]:438-43), that bracelets were up to the challenge.

Bracelet-wearing participants were twice as likely as their non-bracelet-wearing peers to report condom use in follow-up sessions 5 to 7 weeks later.

The bracelets worked even better when wearers had been drinking. While this may seem surprising, it fits with the idea of “alcohol myopia,” the notion that a kind of short-sighted thinking lies behind drunken behaviour. When intoxicated, people pay attention to the information right in front of them, which is right where the bracelets put the safe sex message.

And there you have it. A low-cost, effective addition to the current panoply of safe sex interventions. And slightly more sophisticated than smacking a WEAR A CONDOM Post-it to the forehead of the nearest amorous teenager.

The spin-off potential is limitless. Safe sex bracelets could easily be added to university frosh kits or distributed in high school sex ed classes. While pinning a corsage or boutonniere on young prom-goers, parents could offer a matching bracelet. Condom manufacturers could hide bracelets in specially marked boxes, an adult version of the toy in the cereal box.