Grant: Doctoral Research Award: HIV/AIDS CBR Program - General Stream

The early teen years are the period where first sexual encounters occur and risk for HIV emerges. Current HIV prevention services have been deficient given the increasing rates of STIs among youth, coupled with an alarming decrease in their knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Newcomer youth¿immigrants, refugees, or ¿non status¿ youth who have lived in Canada for 5 years or less¿are some of the fastest-growing populations affected by HIV/AIDS in Ontario. We know very little about their unique health needs. To fill this gap, my PhD work explores the accessibility and effectiveness of Toronto HIV/AIDS prevention services for newcomer youth age 13-19 as a basis for reducing the existing racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes. My work is nested within a community-based project called Toronto Teen Survey. My focus within the larger project is specifically on newcomer youth. Many newcomer youth encounter immigration-related factors that can put them at risk of marginalization, including poverty, and cultural/ linguistic barriers to accessing services. Thus, effective HIV preventive services should be sensitive to the unique vulnerabilities of this group. ¿Newcomers¿, however, are not a homogeneous group. Individual and interpersonal differences, such as gender, race, substance use or family dynamics, differentially expose youth to HIV transmission. Traditional HIV/AIDS research has paid inadequate attention to i) larger structural factors, such as racism or sexism, that affect HIV risk, and ii) to the variations in sex, gender, and sexual orientation that represent lived experiences of youth. I will work towards compiling a theoretical model that explores diversity and the larger social context. I will use both survey and focus group data to generate theories and disseminate practical knowledge for enhanced programming and service delivery. This work should create better HIV prevention programs and contribute to the global movement to eliminate HIV/AIDS.