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Working
Group Updates
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Ethno-racial
MSM Research Working Group
Work
that has come out of the Ethno-racial
MSM Research Working Group will be presented
as a poster abstract at the International
AIDS Conference: AIDS 2008 in Mexico
City this August.
The
group is currently planning a think
tank session that will bring together
researchers, policy makers and community
members to identify the next steps in
strengthening research that will help
us better understand the needs of gay/MSM
from diverse ethno-racial communities.
POZ-Prevention
Working Group
Working
Group Members Rob MacKay and Murray
Jose recently gave a presentation on
POZ prevention at the Guelph Sexuality
Conference.
Working
Group members are providing input into
the development of the Strategies' HIV
Stigma campaign and the various resources
in development geared towards HIV Positive
gay men and workers that provide services
to HIV Positive gay men.
Some
members of the working group are part
of a research study, led by Dr. Barry
Adam, which will look at a group-based
sexual health intervention for HIV positive
gay men. Currently, the research
study is hiring staff support for an
anticipated fall start to the research.
Francophone
Working Group
The
Francophone Working Group is in the
hiring process for a new consultant.
The consultant will be tasked with conducting
an environmental scan and literature
review assessing the extent of French-language health
services for Francophone PHAs in Ontario,
primarily through Community Health Centres
and ASO's.
Interventions Working
Group
This
working group was struck to assist us
in learning more about the types of
strategies that have been tried historically
in HIV prevention with gay men.
The group is tasked
with reviewing our knowledge-base in
this area and developing some recommendations
on HIV prevention strategies or interventions
that are most effective.
Gay, Bi,
Queer Transmen's Working Group
The
Gay, Bi, Queer Transmen's Working
Group recently sent members to the
Trans Health Conference in Philadelphia
where they gave a presentation on
PRIMED: The Back Pocket Guide For
Transmen & The Men Who Dig Us. The
presentation also provided an overview
of a needs assessment the group undertook
last year. A report on the needs
assessment will be available soon
on the Strategy Website.
Group members will also present a
poster abstract at the International
AIDS Conference in Mexico City this
August, and will conduct a workshop
at the pre-conference MSM satellite.
Campaign
Working Group
The
Campaign Working Group is currently
guiding the process of the 2008-2009
Social Marketing HIV Stigma Campaign.
For
more on the upcoming Campaign check
out 'Campaign Central' below.
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| HIV
Stigma Campaign Update |
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| Campaign
Central
The
2008-2009 province-wide social marketing
campaign is gearing up for a September
launch. The campaign will provide an
opportunity for us to raise awareness
amongst gay men about how HIV stigma
is affecting our sexual health and making
it harder for us to prevent the transmission
of HIV.
Top Drawer Creative, the company who
developed the 'Keep it Alive' campaign
for the African and Caribbean Council
on HIV/AIDS in Ontario has been hired
to provide creative development and
production for the campaign.
The
process at a glance:
· In May Top Drawer Creative presents
several creative concepts and a proposed
media plan to the Provincial Advisory
Body. This presentation is followed
by open feedback and critique session.
· Top Drawer Creative enlists a market
research firm to conduct focus groups
with both HIV Positive and HIV Negative
gay men to get their perceptions on
the different creative concepts.
Seven concepts are sent to focus groups.
· The media plan is informed
by a consultation carried out by Jason
Oliver of the Ontario AIDS Network,
who contacted ASOs around the province
interested in participating in the
campaign to best determine how to
roll the campaign out in their community.
· An online survey on the seven campaign
creative concepts is sent out to all
workers of the Ontario Gay Men's HIV
Prevention Strategy. A separate survey
is sent out to gay men in general.
About 250 gay men (and allies who
are service providers) provided their
input into the creative concepts.
· Preliminary focus group and survey
findings are shared with the Campaign
Working Group and the POZ Prevention
Working Group.
Next
steps:
· A final campaign creative and
strategy are presented by Top Drawer
Creative to the Provincial Advisory
Body
· An upcoming training session
for agencies delivering the campaign
in their communities, to take place
before campaign launch
Campaign launch!
We anticipate the campaign will roll
out in early fall 2008 in communities
across Ontario.
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| Process
Evaluation |
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Passing
grades for summer
To
measure how effective we work together
through the Strategy a process evaluation
was conducted. Front-line workers, community
members, researchers and policy makers.
A report on the evaluation will be posted
on the Strategy Website.
According
to the evaluation, the top three benefits of
the strategy to-date are:
- Strengthen
connection between research and communities
- Connecting
policy to what is going on in communities
- Exchanging
ideas and learning from experiences
of others/networking
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| Website
Update |
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Strategy
Website-Ready to launch
The Ontario Gay
Men's HIV Prevention Strategy Website is
finally set to go live. The site will
serve as both a research portal and
online networking hub for people working
in Gay Men's HIV Prevention.
The website is password protected
and will ask each user to create an
online profile when they log-in for
the first time. The site
features are based on a survey of
front-line HIV prevention workers
and can continue to evolve based on
the needs of all of us engaged in
supporting the sexual heatlh of gay
men.
Keep
your eyes peeled about more website
news coming soon.
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| Other
News |
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Ontario
Gay Men's Health Summit
Over
180 people attended the 2008 Summit,
including HIV prevention and support
workers, researchers, policy makers,
social workers in HIV outpatient clinics,
and public health units. The evaluations
are in and we had a great event!
The final report from the Summit
is complete and will be available on
the Strategy Website.
Strategy
Resources in Development!
2008
and 2009 will see a number of resources
produced for HIV prevention workers
and other service providers who work
with gay men across the province.
The need for these resources was identified
by front-line workers, researchers,
public health and policy makers through
the Strategy strategic planning process.
All of these resources, with the exception
of the Newcomer MSM resource, will
be ready by January 2009, just in
time for our next Summit!
The following is a list of what's
in the works:
· Online
outreach service provider guide
- More and more gay men are socializing
and hooking up on-line. The
AIDS Committee of London is taking
the lead on the development of a service
provider manual to help us all better
reach gay men on-line. Paul
McCarty-Johnston is the staff person
coordinating this project.
· POZ
Prevention sexual health booklet - HIV
positive gay men have many unique
sexual health concerns and challenges.
The Toronto People With AIDS Foundation
(TPWAF) is taking the lead on the
development of a pocket-sized sexual
health booklet for HIV positive gay
men. Glenn Betteridge is coordinating
the project. Derek Thaciuk will
write the resource.
· A
POZ Prevention service provider guide
- There can be many
challenges to providing good quality
sexual health services to HIV positive
gay men. TPWAF is also the lead
on a service provider manual for working
on sexual health issues with HIV positive
gay men. Glenn and Derek are
also the staff working on this project.
· Guidebook
to HIV disclosure and the law
- The criminalization of HIV non-disclosure
has created new challenges for HIV
positive gay men, particularly in
their sex lives. HIV/AIDS Legal
Clinic of Ontario is taking the lead
in developing a pocket-sized guidebook
for gay men with HIV to assist them
in better understanding their rights
and responsibilities under the law
related to HIV disclosure, particularly
in the context of their sex lives.
Glenn Betteridge is also providing
staff support for this resource.
· Newcomer
MSM pocket-sized resource -
Men who are new to Canada can be
very vulnerable to HIV during the
period when they are adjusting to
life in a new country. This
resource will assist us in better
connecting MSM who are new to Canada
to community and information supports. The
lead agency for this project is
yet to be determined.
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