ACAS ISgbMSM Needs Assessment

Methodology:

Theoretical Framework: The guiding principle of this community-based needs assessment project is intersectionality and community empowerment. To ensure this, community members (i.e. current and former international students who identify as East and Southeast Asian gbMSM) were engaged in the entire process of the project, including planning and development of project objectives, data collection, and analysis of the project. Four members of the community of interest were also recruited and sat on the project’s advisory committee to ensure comprehensive analysis and engagement with a ected stakeholders.

To promote community capacity-building and meaningful engagement with our community, the project recruited and trained three Peer Outreach Workers (POW) who are current and past East and Southeast Asian ISgbMSM. Our POWs helped lead the outreach and recruitment for participants for all stages of the project, while also being engaged at all stages of the project planning and execution, including research tool development, data collection (e.g. interviewing participants), data analysis, and dissemination. POWs also underwent various training sessions, including introductions to community-based needs assessment, developing data collection tools (e.g. survey design and key informant interviews), and data analysis (e.g. qualitative thematic analysis).

Design: A cross-sectional mixed-methods study design was used to explore the HIV prevention needs of East and Southeast Asian international students identifying as gay, bisexual, or as men who have sex with men (ISgbMSM) studying in Toronto. Specifically, this project also sought to explore the broader settlement experiences of East and Southeast Asian ISgbMSM, and how individual, interpersonal and structural barriers contributed to HIV vulnerability among this population, and what are possible solutions to help address these gaps.

Participant Inclusion Criteria: In order to participate, project participants of our project must be: at least 18 years of age; a current or recent (within five years) international student that studied in Toronto; having arrived from an East or Southeast Asian country; self-identify as a gay, bisexual, queer, or man who has sex with men; and must be able to read, understand and converse in any of the languages in which the surveys/interviews were o ered in (including English, Vietnamese, Mandarin or Cantonese). These criteria were confirmed through a self-reporting screening questionnaire.

Data Collection: Two data collection methods: semi-structured interviews and online surveys were used to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the HIV prevention needs of ISgbMSM. All information and data were collected between January 2020 and June 2020. Both the interviews and surveys consisted of four main areas, including:

• Sociodemographic data, specifically collecting data on age, gender, country of origin, sexuality, education, sources of income, length of stay in Canada, and marital status. • Participant’s experiences settling into Toronto and Canada, assessing their experiences of establishing new connections and support networks, maintaining friendships, and concerns in various areas/social determinants of health. • Sexual health, HIV, and testing, by gathering an array of self-reported measures for HIV knowledge, sexual health practices, dating experiences, substance use, and harm reduction practices. • Experiences accessing healthcare and sexual health information, which included an array of questions exploring experiences navigating healthcare in Toronto, testing and treatment, preferred sources of accessing sexual health information, and open-ended questions about any challenges or barriers they have faced related to their health and social needs.

Both of the project’s data collection tools (i.e. semi-structured interview questions and a survey questionnaire) were first drafted in English and then translated into Chinese and Vietnamese by the project’s two Peer Outreach Workers, as well as Korean by ACAS volunteers.

Interview questions and surveys were tested to ensure accuracy of translation, clarity, and comprehension amongst peer workers and volunteers. 11 ISgbMSM were interviewed (seven of the interviews were conducted in English and four were conducted in Vietnamese), with each interview ranging from 40 minutes to 85 minutes. Additionally, 100 ISgbMSM participants were recruited for the participation in the surveys (31 respondents completed the English survey, 32 completed the Vietnamese version, 30 completed the Chinese version and seven completed the Korean version). Interview participants were compensated with a $40 honorarium for their time, and survey respondents received a $20 digital gift card for their participation.