ACT Research Day 2011
May 26, 2011
12:00 p.m.
Registration and Lunch
Moderator: Darien Taylor, CATIE
12:50 p.m.
Welcoming Remarks
Hazelle Palmer, AIDS Committee of Toronto
1:00 p.m.
Hope, Hype, and HIV: Framing the Future of Prevention
Marc-André LeBlanc, AIDS Prevention Advocate
In recent years, several large-scale clinical trials around the world have been testing new HIV prevention options. Vaccines, pre-exposure prophylaxis, vaginal and rectal microbicides, treatment-as-prevention. The evidence that ARVs in various forms have important prevention benefits continues to mount. Should we believe the hype? Is there really any hope that any of these tools could end the HIV epidemic? How could they, when global access to existing prevention approaches that have been proven to work remains so dismally low?
Meanwhile, prevention and awareness campaigns that use assets-based approaches continue to fight for our attention in the face of campaigns that are steeped in fear. Should we believe that our communities are caring and supportive places, and that we have the necessary skills, tools and resiliency to remain healthy, productive HIV-negative and HIV-positive members of society?
What does all of this mean for the future of HIV prevention in Canada?
2:00 p.m.
Break
2:15 p.m.
Panel Presentations- Research Related to HIV Prevention
Jessica Yee, Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Elevated prevalence of HIV/AIDS within Aboriginal communities has a historical legacy and ongoing systemic colonial oppression faced by Indigenous populations propagates conditions of risk. Conventional HIV prevention strategies that fail to take these legacies into account are likely to be ineffective. “Taking Action: Using Arts-Based Approaches to Develop Aboriginal Youth Leadership in HIV Prevention” is a community-based research project examining how Aboriginal youth understand the links between individual HIV risk and structural inequalities (such as colonialism). A participatory research design using arts-based approaches (e.g. photography, theatre, painting, hip hop) was adopted in six Aboriginal communities. Data were collected through the creation of artistic cultural productions during weekend workshops, intake surveys and in-depth follow-up interviews. Over 100 youth have participated. Analyses have been conducted collaboratively.Youth involved identified that both the process and product of arts-based methods were important. They identified the process: as fun, participatory, empowering, instilling pride, helpful in learning about culture, healing, enhancing recall, assisting in opening up dialogue, and was varied enough that different youth were reached. In addition, artistic products of the research were: a source of pride, communicated and transmitted complex information in digestible formats, useful in raising awareness, conveyed emotion, tangible and long lasting and helped to both bridge and challenge traditional culture.
Arts-based approaches represent an innovative approach to the development of HIV prevention knowledge and Aboriginal youth leadership. By embedding cultural understandings of health in by-youth, for-youth prevention and policy efforts, arts-based approaches can assist with decolonizing the research process, and move forward the agenda of ownership, control, access and possession (OCAP).
Barry Adam, University of Windsor & OHTN
Latino gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) show higher rates of HIV in Canada and the United States than MSM in general. Cuentame/Conta-me investigates underlying reasons for HIV vulnerability in this population by asking about: sexual risk behaviour; social contexts, determinants, and influences on safer-sex decision-making including impacts of racialization and homophobia; the relationship of immigrant experiences and language barriers with risk taking; and access to services and sources of sexual health information. The study design has a quantitative and a qualitative phase, represented by the use of a survey and in-depth interviews. This presentation reports on the first findings from the online survey filled out in the following languages (N=114 Spanish, 73 Portuguese, 37 English).
Lea Narciso, University of Ottawa
The Ontario Women’s Study (OWS): What Ontario Women Have to Say about HIV Prevention and Implications for Policy and Program Development is a community-based research initiative exploring HIV prevention among diverse groups of women living in the province. The OWS was initiated by community service providers, community members and researchers who recognized the lack of research that asks women to describe their HIV prevention needs. The OWS is documenting women’s understanding of HIV acquisition and social, structural, racial, gender-based and economic factors that influence their HIV-related risk. The goal is to determine best practices for reducing HIV among women and to transfer this knowledge to decision-makers to drive enhanced HIV prevention policies and programming in Ontario and Canada.
In collaboration with a representative, diverse Expert Working Group (EWG) and several population-specific sub-committees, the OWS has developed research tools for conducting focus groups and a quantitative survey. To engage community members throughout the research process, EWG and sub-committee members play a critical role in designing and conducting focus groups and surveys as well as data analysis and knowledge translation. The OWS has embraced the principles of community-based research by initiating community relevant research, building partnerships and broadly consulting stakeholders in all aspects of the study. This focus on community engagement ensures that the HIV prevention challenges experienced by women will be meaningfully explored throughout the OWS.
Winston Husbands, AIDS Committee of Toronto
Heterosexual men are particularly affected by HIV among African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities in Ontario, accounting for 60% of the estimated number of ACB people infected mainly through heterosexual transmission. However, there has been virtually no research to inform HIV prevention among heterosexual ACB men, little understanding of their specific needs or potential, and scarcely any programs to address their situation. The iSpeak research study was developed to address heterosexual men’s absence from the response to HIV among ACB communities in Ontario.
iSpeak is collaborative effort among agencies working with ACB communities in Ontario, led by Africans in Partnership Against AIDS (APAA), the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), the provincial AIDS Bureau, and the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO).
iSpeak seeks to: engage heterosexual men in the response to HIV among ACB communities; understand their needs, challenges and priorities related to HIV; identify gaps in the knowledge base for HIV prevention and opportunities for programming; and generate research and other initiatives to build an informed response to HIV among heterosexual ACB men. The main activities in Toronto, Ottawa and London include: focus groups and key informant interviews with ACB men, service providers, researchers and other stakeholders; a literature review and environmental scan of initiatives for Black men in North America and Europe; and a consultation with researchers and other stakeholders to build a research agenda and a framework for appropriate programming.
3:50 p.m.
Break
4:05 - 5:20 p.m.
Breakout discussions of the implications of the research
Jessica Yee, Native Youth Sexual Health Network
Barry Adam, Universtiy of Windsor, OHTN
Lea Narciso, University of Ottawa
Winston Husbands & Fanta Ongoiba, ACT, APAA
5:25 p.m.
Report Back & Take Home Messages
Kate Murzin & Andre Ceranto, AIDS Committee of Toronto
5:50 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Jessica Cattaneo, AIDS Committee of Toronto
