Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Access to HIV information and testing varies widely in the 14 First Nations communities in the Vancouver Coastal (VCH) region. First Nations Health Directors face many competing health priorities in their communities. Health Directors proposed that HIV could be best addressed as part of a holistic wellness approach, and worked with VCH and Providence Health (PHC) to adapt the PitStop Health Screening Toolkit for use in their communities. The VOW Toolkit is a guide for a holistic health screening event where community members move through various "areas" of the village, undergoing different health screenings along the way - including HIV testing. The guide is meant to be flexible, adaptable and reflect the First Nations cultures of the region. A working group of community and health authority representatives created the toolkit. VCH/ PHC provided seed funds for VOW events. The toolkit is now being used to put on events that include HIV screening in several communities. Evaluation of the implementation of the VOW model will help us determine scaleabilty. Increased HIV testing on reserve may help determine HIV incidence on reserve.