Grant: Cat. Gr.: STBBI Res.: Beyond HIV/AIDS/Hep. C- STBBI other than HIV/hep. C (gen.)

Ongoing legacies of colonization, residential schools and continuing racism have led to a disproportionate burden of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) among Indigenous people in Canada. Existing testing services often do not meet the specific needs of Indigenous people, particularly those living in rural and remote communities. At the same time, new types of STBBI testing could fill these gaps. In Kemteks Yakwa, a previous project led by the Chee Mamuk Indigenous Health program, recommendations were co-created with Indigenous communities that recognized the benefits of these technologies in reducing barriers, increasing trust, and improving access to testing. One technology having the potential to support these recommendations was self-collection kits for STBBI testing, where a person obtains a kit, collects their own specimens, and returns it for testing. To build on this work, we aim to: 1) Describe the preferences of Indigenous communities for the design of self-collection kits and how they are best implemented in communities; 2) Share these findings with health system and community partners to facilitate advocacy and inform the planning and design of self-collection kits for Indigenous communities. We will use a two-eyed seeing approach, starting with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing (objective 1) then engaging with complementary strengths of western ways of knowing (objective 2). We will draw on our existing trusted relationships with communities to bring together Indigenous women and men across BC for a workshop where we will facilitate small group discussions and sharing circles to gather data. Using co-creation processes with these partners, we will develop recommendations for the SCS kits including how kits should be designed for to be cultural appropriate, and best ways to provide access to these kits in community. Chee Mamuk will lead all activities of this catalyst grant with the support of settler-ally researchers.