Providing Online-Based Sexual Health Outreach to Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Men in Ontario, Canada: Qualitative Interviews with Multisectoral Frontline Service Providers and Managers

Abstract

The Internet is a common tool for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) to find sexual partners and sexual health information. Given persistently high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates among MSM, it is important to examine the role of online outreach for MSM as part of HIV prevention and care. We provide an overview of the unique perspectives of online sexual health outreach, delivered through AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) through sociosexual Internet sites and mobile applications. Data were drawn from the qualitative arm of the community-based Cruising Counts study conducted across Ontario from December 2013 to January 2014. ASO online outreach providers and managers (n = 22) were recruited to complete a 1-h in-person/telephone interview to explore in-depth their experiences with, and perspectives on, delivering online outreach services for MSM in Ontario. Thematic analyses were conducted inductively using NVivo 10. Service providers suggested a high demand for online outreach services for MSM. Strengths and advantages of online outreach over face-to-face outreach included anonymity, instant access to services, peer model, and accessing hard-to-reach populations of MSM. Barriers included consistent quality of service, collaborations between companies that own online technologies and outreach service agencies, budgetary and staff capacity issues, and uncertainty of best practices and evaluation parameters for online outreach. Findings from these interviews can inform service providers, policy makers, and researchers on how online sexual health outreach can play a greater role in HIV prevention by better acknowledging and addressing the opportunities and barriers experienced by service providers working with MSM communities online.

Exploring the Attitude of Patients with HIV About Using Telehealth for HIV Care

“…9 In addition, stigma and fear of HIV status disclosure hinder PWH from attending HIV clinic visits. 6,10 Various telehealth interventions have been used to provide online based sexual health outreach, 11 to promote HIV testing and to address specific interventions among PWH, such as smoking cessation, or treatment of depression. 12,13 Most of these studies have shown promising results and high rates of patient satisfaction.…”

Gay Men’s Sexual Health Promotion in Virtual Space: Exploring Stakeholders’ Attitudes and Approaches to Outreach on Mobile Apps in Nova Scotia

“…Follow-ups for clients who might have been exposed to infections are crucial, as Young et al (2013) reported that men who use SNAs for partner finding were more likely to engage in riskier behaviour. Health professionals require training and knowledge to learn how to use SNAs and how to mitigate the challenges associated with follow-ups within SNAs (Brennan et al 2018).…”

“…The current challenges identified by the stakeholders interviewed in this project are almost universally experienced by stakeholders who work in sexual health prevention (Brennan et al 2018). The shift in gay men's community to online spaces for partner finding is not solely unique to Halifax or Nova Scotia; it is happening across the country and elsewhere (Brenna et al 2018).…”

“…This practice of individual-level interventions is contrary to health promotion, whereas community-health interventions are more effective at reducing rates long term (Wohlfeiler 2002). Brennan et al (2018) found that resources, such as budgets and staffing, were critical issues in the implementation of prevention efforts using SNAs. The need for healthpromotion-based approaches in prevention are evident in the present study, and as stakeholders noted, incorporating prevention efforts into popular partner-seeking apps can catalyze upper systems-level prevention efforts.…”

“…A collaborative effort between service providers and those who know about spaces like Grindr may be the most effective method to begin incorporating partner-finding applications in outreach efforts. Brennan et al (2018) also suggest that coordinated efforts to build collaborations between the owners of the SNAs and sexual health service providers to develop, implement, and access the effectiveness of online sexual health promotion efforts are needed. This study suggests that collaborations may be the most effective solution to compensate for the lack of experience and uncertainty that was noted in the stakeholder interviews.…”