Exploring Sexual Health Care Innovations for 2S/GBTQ People

HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) continue to disproportionately affect the lives of Two-Spirit, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer men and non-binary (2S/GBTQ) people in British Columbia, Canada. Fortunately, there are HIV/STBBI sexual health care innovations that could benefit this health equity-deserving 2S/GBTQ community. These innovations include doxycycline as pre- or post-exposure medication (doxy PrEP/PEP) to prevent the acquisition of syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea, and long-acting (LA) injectable treatment for HIV. This proposal includes two related yet distinct research projects related to doxy PrEP/PEP (Research Arm 1) and LA HIV treatment use (Research Arm 2) among 2S/GBTQ people. The projects aim to identify key priorities and preferences for the implementation of doxy PrEP/PEP among 2S/GBTQ people and healthcare providers and the use of LA HIV treatment among 2S/GBTQ people living with HIV (PLWHIV). The intern will gain skills in community-based research and applying intersectionality and decolonial approaches to health research. The intern will conduct and gain competencies in semi-structured interviews with diverse 2S/GBTQ community members/PLWHIV and healthcare providers, and how to collaboratively analysis qualitative data using appropriate software. The intern will be mentored to apply the results gained to guide the development of a doxy PrEP/PEP knowledge hub and LA HIV treatment toolkits. The intern will support the Community Based Research Centre to produce evidence for them on how to improve the prevention of bacterial STBBIs and how to enhance access and adherence to HIV treatment, ultimately contributing to stemming these public health emergencies. Lastly, the project findings will lay the foundation for Community Based Research Centre’s future research projects focused on doxy PrEP/PEP and LA HIV treatment implementation across Canada.