Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Reported increase in the rates of three Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis, over the last 15 years poses an increasingly alarming public health concern in Canada. Public health experts suggest that sexually active youth engage in STI testing. However, STI testing itself is highly stigmatized, and young people's participation in traditional STI testing remains a daunting challenge for public health practitioners. Due to its good uptake, Internet-based STI services have received significant attention by the healthcare systems researchers as a potentially viable alternative to promote STI testing among youth at risk of STIs, though it is a recent addition in Canadian context. Most previous online STI testing initiatives have focused mainly on Chlamydia; HIV testing has been incorporated lately in few occasions. Recently, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) launched a model of internet-based STI/HIV testing (known as GetChecked) that is integrated with the existing clinic-based services and would provide online access to HIV testing along with conventional testing options for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis. My research will examine the socio-cultural factors, including the complex interactions among them, that affect the diffusion and uptake of GetChecked across different socio-demographic sub-populations of young people in British Columbia. All youth clients of GetChecked will be invited via a web-based prompt to participate in a brief client survey at the completion of their first use of GetChecked. Clients consenting to participate will be asked to complete a client survey (administered online using FluidSurveys) at baseline and 3 months post-first use of GetChecked. The results of my dissertation will help highlight through a predictive model strategies for promoting optimum uptake/diffusion of the intervention across various socio-cultural subgroups of young people in BC to reduce the disease burden of STIs/HIV.