RSVP
Speaker
Jonathan Easey
Time and Location
Wednesday, December 6th, 2023
11 am – 12:30 pm in PCN 2012
Abstract
As recently as 2018, nearly 1 in 5 Gay men in Vancouver was living with HIV. Beyond this statistical reality, I know as a Gay man that, regardless of our individual HIV status or risk profile, Queer people in Vancouver grapple heavily with the impacts of HIV – on our physical health, our mental health, and our social health. There is good news, however. In 2010, researchers developed a drug regimen called PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis), which can be taken by HIV-negative people to prevent HIV infection. PrEP is nearly 100% effective at preventing HIV transmission through anal sex and it has become a cornerstone of the global effort to stop the spread of HIV. In BC, PrEP was made available for free to at-risk Gay men in January 2018.
Despite PrEP’s effectiveness and availability in BC, alongside the relatively high level of awareness about PrEP among the Vancouver Queer community, its uptake by at-risk Queer community members has been slower than public health experts hoped. One of the biggest reasons for this is, of course, stigma. Homophobia, sex-negativity, and other fears held by healthcare providers, family members, etc. are impacting many at-risk Queer people’s access to PrEP.
So researchers are trying to figure out how to close the gap between PrEP’s availability and its uptake. Many studies examine attitudes toward PrEP held by physicians and other providers. This approach proposes that, once we know which providers are most likely to prescribe PrEP, we can equip them to help as many patients as possible. While I see merit in this approach, my own study aims to strike closer to the heart of the issue. My project is framed with the lens of community- and adult-learning and instead asks, “How can we harness knowledge of Queer health and PrEP already held within the Queer community, couple it with the body of knowledge on adult learning, and improve Queer patients’ ability to educate their own providers about PrEP?”