Grant: Doctoral Research Award - Priority Announcement: HIV/AIDS Research (SHOPP)

Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV are high among young people in Canada. However, young men's engagement with STI/HIV testing remains disproportionately low. The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control's (BCCDC) new Online Sexual Health Services Program (OSHSP) is developing online STI/HIV testing services in the hopes that it will improve young men's participation in STI/HIV testing. Understanding the processes by which the OSHSP can create new opportunities to meaningfully engage men in accessing STI/HIV testing services is therefore the fundamental aim of the proposed study. The findings from the proposed study will provide recommendations for tailoring the OSHSP to meet the needs of young men in BC to improve young men's sexual health services. This study will: (1) Examine young men's perspectives on the saliency, credibility and value of the emerging OSHSP; (2) Describe and examine how men are represented (e.g., gender norms; sexuality) within the OSHSP; (3) Use these perspectives to facilitate the development of recommendations for tailoring the OSHSP to accommodate the needs of young men; (4) Explore the differential effects of the OSHSP across potentially vulnerable subgroups of men and use this information to respond to their needs. The study will use a purposive sampling strategy to recruit participants (men ages 15-24) from a variety of socio-cultural backgrounds to ensure a wide variety of perspectives. There will be a particular emphasis recruiting young men who may be most vulnerable to the health and social impacts of STIs/HIV (e.g., economically disadvantaged; men who have sex with men). A variety of qualitative data collection techniques will be used, including: in-depth, qualitative interviews (n=40); focus groups (4 groups with n=5 men); and a one-day Participatory Planning Summit (n=12 men).