2012

Joining Forces: Using Networks to Consolidate Outreach Workers’ Efforts

The M2M Network is a group of outreach workers dedicated to improving gay men’s sexual health. It was established to coordinate the efforts of different organizations conducting outreach in the same gay men’s bathhouses according to a common calendar, thereby reducing the need for each organization to contact bathhouse staff directly. This coordinated effort reduces the amount of planning on the part of bathhouse staff, making it more effortless for the staff to welcome outreach workers from different organizations into their establishments and simpler for workers to plan their outreach.

Beyond getting bathhouses to better understand and embrace outreach and HIV and STI testing, the M2M Network serves as a support network for outreach workers from a diverse group of community-based organizations, each of them conducting outreach in the same venues but focusing on a different sub-population of gay men. Members of the network not only discuss scheduling conflicts but also strategies for effective interventions and tips for overcoming challenges as well as emerging trends in sexual behaviours among the diverse populations who are (and who are not yet) accessing testing, counseling and other outreach in the bathhouses. 

One enormous benefit of the M2M Network is its ability to foster consistency in the efforts of the participating organizations. Anyone involved in outreach work in the ASO sector knows that turnover in our organizations can be high, and often efforts that start out with the best intentions are abandoned for a time while staffing issues are settled. When new staff is finally hired, there can be a lag in services as new outreach workers “learn the ropes.” By maintaining monthly meetings of participants from across different organizations, the M2M Network can bring new outreach workers up to speed quickly. Rather than starting from scratch, a new employee from one organization can model his outreach activities on the work of his veteran peers from other organizations in the M2M Network, eliminating the need for any outreach worker or service organization to “reinvent the wheel” regardless of how new they are to outreach.

As of 2011, the following organizations have outreach workers participating in the M2M Network:

• Africans in Partnership Against AIDS (APAA)
• AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT)
• Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP)
• Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS)
• Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP)
• Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples
• Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance
• Hassle Free Clinic
• Toronto People With AIDS Foundation

Collectively, they reach out to the wide diversity of men—from different racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds—who have sex with men in Toronto in a bathhouse setting.

Originally, the program was called G Men and received two years of funding for a part-time coordinator; this funding was subsequently cut. Outreach workers from funded organizations continued their involvement in the program under its new M2M name by categorizing their attendance of monthly meetings within the “networking with other agencies” deliverable of their organization’s funded mandate.

The M2M Network model focuses on outreach to a very specific population in an even more specific setting. Those who are conducting outreach in different populations with equally specific settings may find the establishment of a network to be equally beneficial. For example, other groups of workers from different organizations who are conducting outreach in the following environments could surely benefit from routine networking:

• schools
• prisons
• bars
• injection sites
• remote Aboriginal communities

What’s more, with the advent of improved low-cost communication methods, such as video-conferencing through Skype, service providers needn’t be confined to one city or region when reaching out to each other to consolidate their efforts, share knowledge and provide support.   

For more information on the M2M Network, please contact:

Zavare Tengra
Hassle Free Clinic
Email: zavare@hasslefreeclinic.org

2012

Building Support through a Mentoring Network: CAAT’s Legacy Project Connects PHAs to Build Capacity and Community

Many AIDS service organizations (ASOs) in Canada are committed to the greater and more meaningful involvement of people living with HIV (GIPA and MIPA) and the empowerment of people living with HIV. One manifestation of this commitment is the proliferation of “capacity building” and “leadership” programs for people living with HIV.

While such programs play a critical role in building the self-esteem of people with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) and empowering them as community leaders, many PHAs seem to have hit a “glass ceiling” in capacity-building initiatives. Many have completed all of the leadership programs available to them yet express a desire to continue to learn and grow through the guidance of those who are willing to share their experience and expertise. Such need for ongoing mentorship has also been identified through various research studies and community-planning think tanks.

In response to these emerging trends in capacity building, the Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT)—a Toronto-based coalition of HIV-affected individuals and organizations—took leadership to engage multiple community agency partners to create the Legacy project. The Legacy Project is CAAT’s initiative to build on existing capacity-building programs and provide PHAs with an ever-expanding network of mentors to facilitate a continuous, ongoing exchange of knowledge and resources.

The Legacy Project engages PHAs and their allies as “mentors.” Legacy builds structured mentorship relationships between mentors and PHA mentees to facilitate the establishing and working toward life goals, including more effective involvement in volunteerism, employment and/or pursuit of academic studies. The program begins with an orientation open to mentee candidates (PHAs who have completed “capacity building” trainings available in Toronto) and mentor candidates (PHAs and their allies who have transferable skills and experience). At the initial orientation, mentors and mentees are matched up to begin identifying goals and working out terms of how they will work together to achieve them.

Mentees who have achieved their initial goal may return to the Legacy Project to be partnered with a different mentor to work on another goal. In some cases, a mentee may be paired with multiple mentors to work on different goals simultaneously. Depending on their skills and experience, participants in the program who are PHAs may shift between roles as mentee and mentor or serve as mentor to a mentee while being mentored by someone else in the program.

For example, a mentee may participate in the program initially for guidance in exploring plans to pursue academic studies. While working with a mentor on that goal, she may be paired up with another mentor for guidance in working out how to balance her employment and community volunteerism priorities. This same mentee may have advanced artistic skills, meanwhile, which she may share by serving as mentor to another participant in the program looking to explore that discipline.

PHA graduates of the program are also invited to return to participate as co-facilitators, thereby increasing the sense of agency promoted by the program. Whenever possible, opportunities for internships are created with partner agencies to provide placement for program participants.

The Legacy Project has established a broad network of mentors and mentees to engage in ongoing community learning and sharing. In addition to the initial orientation session and meetings of mentor/mentee pairs, the Legacy Project operates additional meetings on an ongoing basis to bring together participants in a workshop-style setting; these meetings build and sustain the sense of community among participants and encourage the ongoing exchange and sharing of lived experience, knowledge and information. These “reflective practice sessions” are opportunities for Legacy participants to reflect and address emerging issues in their mentoring relationships, learn further skills, share ideas for improving the program, and form additional connections with other mentors/mentees in the program.

Legacy also organizes group mentoring activities to bring participants with common interests together to further share skills and lessons learned in these areas. Group mentoring sessions have ranged from baking bread to learning about social media to sharing concerns on parenting.

The Legacy Project is one example of an innovative approach to creating a sense of community, building capacity and strengthening connections among PHAs. For more detailed information on programs that strive to bring PHAs together to share resources and build connections, see Sharing Together for Life and Weekend Wellness Retreats.

For more information on The Legacy Project, please contact:

Derek Yee, Legacy Project Coordinator
Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
c/o Regent Park Community Health Centre
465 Dundas Street East
Toronto, ON, M5A 2B2
416-364-2261 ext 2318
Email: legacy@hivimmigration.ca

2012

Getting Out There: Creative Outreach Engages Hard-to-Reach Communities in Surprising Settings

To connect with men often missed by traditional outreach approaches, GAP-VIES, an AIDS service organization (ASO) in Montreal, is constantly on the lookout for new locations to reach out to straight men of Haitian origin to spread the word about sexual health and HIV prevention.

Check out the following settings where GAP-VIES successfully provides Haitian men with free literature on safer sex, condoms and confidential referrals to community resources on safer sex and HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. Hopefully, these creative strategies will inspire your own outreach efforts.

Barbershops – In the Haitian community, the barbershop is more than just a place men go to get their hair cut. It is also a place where men meet to talk about the things that really matter to them—from sports and politics to raising a family and making ends meet. Barbershops are also a popular setting to talk about sex, and GAP-VIES has won over the trust of several local business owners to conduct outreach in their barbershops.

Garages – Like barbershops, garages serve as important locations for social exchange among Haitian men in Quebec. Though not always owned and run by Haitians, certain garages attract a predominantly Haitian clientele. While they are waiting to have their cars worked on, men will sit and visit with each other, discussing the same types of issues that come up in barbershops. Some garage owners have allowed GAP-VIES to set up mini sexual- health information booths in their garages during set hours.

Taxi stands – Taxi driving is a popular profession for some newly landed immigrants to Canada, and many Haitian men earn a living through this line of work. During off hours at busy taxi stands—particularly at airports—there are times when hundreds of drivers socialize and play cards or dominoes while lining up their vehicles in anticipation of a rush of customers. GAP-VIES has won over the trust of the men in these environments and can take advantage of this “downtime” to speak with them.

Music festivals – There are four big festivals popular with the Haitian community in Montreal and beyond. Together, these events draw between 5,000 and 10,000 people every year, of which 80% are Haitians from Quebec. By sending volunteers through the crowds with literature and condoms, GAP-VIES manages to reach thousands with information on safer sex. Musicians performing at the festivals are also approached by the organization and asked to incorporate messages about safer sex into their music, acts and videos. GAP-VIES also conducts outreach activities at dance parties organized by local bands. These events can bring together anywhere from 400 to 1,500 people.

Sporting events – Like music festivals, soccer matches are a popular draw for Haitian men in Quebec. Street basketball and other local sports are additional community events that draw smaller but equally animated crowds. GAP-VIES treats each of these events as an opportunity to reach its audience.

Employment and community centres – Like other populations of recently landed immigrants in Canada, Haitians new to Montreal frequently socialize around employment and community centres, where they learn to develop certain skills and integrate into the society. GAP-VIES frequently visits such locations to lead workshops on HIV/AIDS and STIs.

Churches – Religion provides practicing members of the Haitian community with a common faith, as well as a sense of community, tradition and history. GAP-VIES has worked closely with religious leaders in the Haitian community to bring information on sexual health into a religious context.

Saunas/bathhouses – Inspired by the work of initiatives to educate gay men about sexual health in bathhouses and sex clubs, GAP-VIES has taken its outreach work into two “mixed” saunas (accommodating both men and women) that draw a portion of their clientele from among Haitian and African men, most of whom identify as straight. GAP-VIES has discovered that lessons learned in gay bathhouses are largely transferable to this population. An outreach coordinator from GAP-VIES is present at the sauna at fixed hours on a weekly basis to provide information, safer-sex supplies and testing resources.

The work of GAP-VIES is inspiring for the diversity of venues accessed and the creativity of outreach efforts. For specific step-by-step information on delivering peer-based outreach in the context of one particular setting, see our case study on Operation Hairspray, which shows the work of Ottawa Public Health in the context of hair salons and barbershops.

For more information on the work of GAP-VIES, please contact:

Luc-Edgard Douyon
514-722-5655
Email: luc-edgard.douyon@gapvies.ca

2012

Popularizing HIV Testing: ATOMc Taps into Social Networks with Prizes for Peer Referrals

AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM) has implemented an innovative approach to encouraging HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing among Montreal’s gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. In ACCM’s peer-based program called ATOMc, “recruiters” promote the benefits of testing and refer their friends and acquaintances to testing sites by spreading information via their social networks.

In ATOMc, which stands for “Awareness to Make Change,” recruiters have been given an added incentive to participate in the project: ACCM has added a reward scheme. Volunteer recruiters are people who are trained by the Community Health Promoter and given information about HIV, STIs, testing sites and referrals. They are then charged with passing on this information to their personal networks—and earning points.

When recruiters refer someone to a testing site or local clinic, they give the individual a card bearing the ATOMc program information along with the recruiter’s code. Each testing centre reports back on a regular basis to the ATOMc Community Health Promoter, letting them know how many people have been referred by each recruiter. The recruiter gets points for each person they referred for testing who follows through. Recruiters can save points to be redeemed for cash prizes, gift cards and even iPods. 

ATOMc is based on the Social Networks Testing strategy launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S. Check out their guidelines for detailed information on how to implement this project and other key things to consider, such as potential risks for recruiters and program evaluation ideas.

“[ATOMc] gives people an added incentive to talk about sexual health with their friends and to get tested regularly,” says James McKye, an ACCM Community Health Promoter.

ATOMc volunteers are increasingly known in the Village and Plateau districts of Montreal as “the condom folk.” In addition to promoting testing, volunteers distribute free safer-sex supplies and engage club patrons and passersby in fun discussions of safer sex. They can easily be spotted hanging out at popular clubs, bars, cafés and saunas carrying their boxes of safer-sex supplies, which they wear suspended from neck straps like the trays once carried by “cigarette girls” in nightclubs.

ATOMc is one example of an innovative approach to engaging a community. For more detailed information on tips for volunteer engagement within the context of a sexual health program, see our case study on Operation Hairspray. For another case study that uses creative visual tools as conversation starters on the subject of sexual health, see The Underwear Project.

For more information on ATOMc, please contact:

James McKye
Community Health Promoter, ATOMc
AIDS Community Care Montreal
Email: promotion@accmontreal.org