Improving Access to HIV/STBBI Testing in Winnipeg
In 2018, Nine Circles was part of a project that explored the strengths and challenges of STBBI testing and education in Winnipeg. The anticipated outcomes of the project were:
- To identify populations currently accessing testing services and to compare with local epidemiological data to identify gaps.
- To develop enhanced opportunities for collaboration between STBBI Testing Clinicians and Sexual Health Educators to maximize resources and target populations that are being missed.
- To share tools, case reviews and best practices to increase comfort in completing sexual health assessments
The project involved three components:
- HIV/STBBI Participant Survey: A participant survey about testing behaviours and people’s rationales for accessing testing (or not). The goal was to get a sense of who is currently being tested in clinic to determine whether the right people were accessing care. Additionally, learning more about how people want to access testing and HIV/STBBI information was another priority of this survey. Four sites (Nine Circles, Klinic, Street Connections, and Mount Carmel Clinic) participated in this process by completing 20-30 participant surveys each over the course of the month of April 2018. The data was compiled and analyzed for trends and themes.
- HIV/STBBI Forum for Health Educators and Clinicians who do HIV/STBBI testing: A forum took place on May 25th, 2018 to share the results of the survey, learn from a panel of peers about their thoughts around education and testing, and work towards improvement opportunities moving forwards.
- Final and Interim Reports: Each of the reports describes the project approach and provides some analysis of the data collected. The final report includes a summary of the findings of both the survey and the forum, key themes that emerged from both, and a set of recommendations for improving access to testing for those who need it most.
