Engage Intervention Fund Recipients

The Engage Intervention Fund Committee was happy to see such interest and a high calibre of applications for this fund. We received 10 applications, 4 of which were ultimately selected for funding based on the following criteria.

• Relevance: The application should have been an intervention, first and foremost, which demonstrates a strong relevance to HIV prevention for gbMSM and Engage objectives.
• Originality: The intervention should not have been a replicate of an existing project for the same population. New ideas or a novel approach were favoured.
• Evidence-based: If not an exploratory intervention, strong evidential basis was important.
• Methods: Implementation plans should have been well aligned with the stated objectives and included a realistic timeline. A clear evaluation plan was considered critical.
• Budget: The application should have included a realistic budget with a clearly detailed justification.
• Impact for gbMSM in Canada: The anticipated impact of intervention on gbMSM should be positive, adaptable, equitable and sustainable beyond the limits of the funding. Strong applications that reached an underserved population in Canada were favoured.

We are excited to announce that the recipients of the intervention fund were all community –based interventions. These 4 applications stood out during the competitive evaluation process:

PrEP SQUAD TO – By Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP)
This intervention will be an adaptation of the PrEP Squad DC campaign (http://www.prepsquaddc.org) for African, Caribbean and Black MSM in Toronto, Ontario. Black CAP hopes to deepen their understanding of the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours that influence PrEP uptake among local ACBMSM, pilot an ACBMSM-focused PrEP awareness campaign, boost knowledge and uptake of PrEP, and facilitate PrEP access for ACBMSM in partnership with local AIDS Service Organizations, community groups and health care providers.

For more information on PrEP Squad TO please contact Garfield Durrant at g.durrant@black-cap.com

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COMMUNITY PrEP CHAMPIONS – By The Investigaytors (Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men’s Health)
Using Community-Based Knowledge Exchange to Empower Access to PrEP through Primary Care Providers amoung Young Gay, Bisexual, and other Men who have Sex with Men in BC

This intervention adapts the CBRC’s Investigaytors’ (http://cbrc.net/investigaytors) model of community-based research to contribute to the Health Initiative for Men’s knowledge translation activities around PrEP (getpreped.ca) and increase PrEP uptake in BC beyond the HIM Health Centres. They plan to form a group of community-members interested in or currently using PrEP (“Community PrEP Champions”) who will meet monthly to lead the development, implementation, and dissemination of a series of practical knowledge translation tools to empower GBMSM to access PrEP and educate primary healthcare providers about PrEP.

For more information on “Community PrEP Champions” please contact Jeffrey Morgan at jeffrey.morgan@cbrc.net.

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MONBUZZ.CA– By RÉZO
An online brief intervention tool on substance use and sexual health adapted for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM), be they cis or trans.

Launched in September 2017, the MONBUZZ.ca intervention tool aims to reduce risky behaviours and harms associated with substances users (SU) in MSMSU who do not consult the institutional health services, particularly the link between substances users and sexual behaviors, and encourage referrals to services better adjusted to their needs.

Designed to look like text messages, MONBUZZ.ca offers live-chat sessions and personalised intervention to educate users of the risks associated with their substance use with regards to their sexual behaviours and allows users to determine their risk-levels. The funds will be used to improve the MONBUZZ.ca with the consideration of comments from community consultations, in order to maximize the uptake of this risk-evaluation tool in the community.

For more information on MONBUZZ.ca, please contact Fredérick Pronovost at developpement@rezosante.org.

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CHEMSEX SUPPORT WORKSHOPS – By AIDS Community Care Montreal
This intervention, led by ACCM (AIDS Community Care Montreal), will support the KONTAK program, which adapted the chemsex support workshops put in place by AIDS Committee of Toronto, in Montreal. KONTAK has been piloting an outreach and support intervention for over a year, and the Engage Intervention funds will add to the evaluation, improvement and further implementation of the intervention amongst gbMSM chemsex practitioners in Montreal. The funds will be used to help better understand the needs, behavioural changes and sexual practices of chemsex-practicing gbMSM, by developing an evaluation tool that can thoroughly assess the success of the chemsex workshops as well as the acuteness and strength of the evaluation tool itself.

For more information on the Montreal Chemsex Workshops, please contact Jeansil Bruyère at ed@accmontreal.org.

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Thank you to all applications and congratulations to the recipients. We look forward to the impact that these interventions will have on gbMSM health in Canada,

Gbolahan Olarewaju
July 27th, 2018