Grant: Operating Grant: COVID-19 - Project Grant

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were epidemic in Canada before the COVID-19 pandemic. The ways we usually stop STI epidemics were not working; maybe because we focused interventions on men who have sex with men (MSM) in Toronto's urban downtown, where infection rates are highest, and largely overlooked MSM living in suburban, exurban and rural areas. Many sexual health clinics closed with COVID-19 shutdowns and access to STI testing and treatment became limited. Public health response measures, such as physical distancing and self-isolation, impacted the connectivity of social networks, and by extension, sexual networks. Our goal is to improve sexual health care services for MSM in suburban areas. This requires exploring how MSM from the suburbs manage their sexual lives and sexual health, before and during the time of COVID-19. Specifically, we will: 1. Measure the impact of COVID-19 on the sex life and sexual health seeking behaviours of MSM living in the suburbs. 2. Explore how MSM connect with their social, cultural, racial, ethnic, religious, sexual, and health service communities. 3. Explore how MSM in the suburbs take care (or not) of their sexual health, where they access sexual health services, and how to improve local access and services. 4. Suggest ways to improve sexual health care serving for suburban and rural MSM both independent of, and during, COVID-19. This study is a partnership between the University of Toronto, Moyo Health and Community Services, and Region of Peel - Public Health. We will conduct and online survey and follow-up by interviewing MSM living in Peel Region (Mississauga, Brampton, or Caledon). We will suggest ways to improve sexual health services that respect the different identities, communities, and relationships MSM in suburban areas have to manage. We will host workshops online with community and health care providers to share results, check our interpretations, get feedback, and maximize uptake of results.