Grant: Team Grant: HIV/AIDS and STBBI Community-Based Research -General Indigenous Pool

THE ISSUE: Canada's North experiences unique contexts that shape HIV/STBBI vulnerabilities among youth. The Northwest Territories (NWT) has an STBBI prevalence 7-times higher than the national average. This community-based study is a partnership with Northern and Indigenous led programs in the NWT: Fostering Open eXpression among Youth (FOXY), which engages young women and non-binary youth, and its partner initiative, Strength, Masculinities, and Sexual Health (SMASH), which works with young men and non-binary youth. OUR GOALS: Reduce the impact of intersecting stigma and discrimination toward Northern and Indigenous youth in the NWT and to reduce HIV/STBBI vulnerability: Aim 1: Develop, co-create, and evaluate holistic and youth-centred intersecting stigma reduction resources, tools, and activities for Northern and Indigenous youth; Aim 2: Improve HIV/STBBI prevention engagement, including adolescent sexual and reproductive empowerment and sexual wellbeing, and reduce stigma, among Northern and Indigenous adolescents; Aim 3: Mobilize knowledge of new Northern and Indigenous youth STBBI prevention and stigma reduction strategies in diverse education, community, and cultural settings, nationally and globally. OUR APPROACH: Our three-phase study aligns with a transformative mixed-methods sequential exploratory design that identifies social inequities and generates action-oriented responses for social justice: Phase 1: Develop & co-create; Phase 2: Action for prevention & stigma reduction; Phase 3: Mobilize knowledge. We will establish a Youth Advisory Council (YAC) (n=10) with NWT youth aged 13-18 to contribute insights and feedback across all study phases. IMPACT: 1) new knowledge of HIV/STBBI prevention and stigma reduction approaches for Northern and Indigenous youth in NWT secondary schools; 2) new knowledge of stigma reduction and sexual health promotion with NWT parents (workshop, digital learning bundle), teachers (toolkit), and health providers (think tank).