giles, m., schiff, r., & valcour , j. may 2014
DESCRIPTION
I mpact of an HIV/AIDS Sexual H ealth Education P rogram for Youth in S outhern I nuit Communities. Giles, M., Schiff, R., & Valcour , J. May 2014. West St. Modeste, Labrador 2013. Research Team. Primary Investigator: Madison Giles - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Impact of an HIV/AIDS Sexual Health Education Program for Youth in Southern Inuit CommunitiesGiles, M., Schiff, R., & Valcour, J.
May 2014
West St. Modeste, Labrador 2013
Research TeamPrimary Investigator: Madison Giles
Supervisory Committee: Dr. Rebecca Schiff, Dr. James Valcour, and Dr. Carolyn Sturge-Sparkes
Community Partner: Scosha Diamond of the Labrador Friendship Centre (LFC)
Indigenous Governing Authority: NunatuKavut Community Council
Our Story • Community-based & collaborative research
project
• Need indicated by an Indigenous organization, the LFC, to evaluate their HIV/AIDS Project
Funding Agencies: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Atlantic Aboriginal Health Research Project, and the Northern Scientific Training Program.
No conflicts of interest to declare.
BackgroundIndigenous peoples are 3.5x more likely to be
infected with HIV
Young Indigenous females who have a history of sexual abuse or IDU are most at risk
Increase of HIV infections among Indigenous youth
Paucity of age-, culture-, and community-appropriate programs for Indigenous youth
So What?To determine if a culturally-appropriate HIV prevention strategy is effective for youth in Southern Inuit communities
•School-based one-off sexual health presentation with a central HIV/AIDS component
•Presented and developed by a young two-spirited Southern Inuit woman
•Includes games, demonstrations and discussions
Research Objectives
1. Identify the current knowledge levels and attitudes surrounding HIV/AIDS among youth in Southern Inuit communities.
2. Evaluate whether the LFC’s sexual health presentation, specifically the HIV/AIDS component, is effective for youth in Southern Inuit communities.
Theory & EthicsTheoretical Stance•Decolonizing Methodologies •Indigenist Stress-Coping Model•Information, Motivation, and Behavioural Skills Model Ethical Requirements •Ethics informed by TCPS2, NunatuKavut Community Council, and principles of OCAP•Participation of community partners throughout all stages of the research
Research SettingSouth coast of Labrador
•NunatuKavut communities:
• Cartwright• Port Hope Simpson• St. Lewis/Fox
Harbour• L’Anse Au Loup
Labrador Coast Drive Regional Map, 2005.
Data Collection• Self-administered pre-
and post-questionnaires
• Assessed knowledge and attitudes surrounding HIV/AIDS, and evaluated the LFC’s presentation
• Amalgamation of two validated tools used frequently in the literature
Data Analysis• Statistical program R Project
• Conduct ANOVA, Tukey’s HSD tests, and linear regressions to determine if relationships existed between demographic identifiers and questionnaire categories
• Thematic coding to analyze two open-ended questions that asked students their programming preferences
Sample• 97 participants (60% response rate)
• 51% identified as female
• 2% identified as an LGBTQ category
• Participants ranged from 11 – 17 years
• 54% identified as Southern Inuit/Inuit-Métis
• All participants attended the all grade public school in their region
Results1. Knowledge and attitudes increased
• Common misconceptions: HIV transmission, vectors, testing, vaccination and interaction with PLWHA.
2. Females gained more positive attitudes compared to males
3. Older students had more positive attitudes compared to younger students
4. Older students evaluated the LFC’s sexual health presentation higher than younger students
5. A small sample of First Nations and Inuit students demonstrated lower knowledge scores at post-questionnaire
6. A small sample of LGBTQ students scored the highest in knowledge, attitudes, and evaluation
7. The most memorable aspect of the LFC’s presentation was condoms
8. Students would have enjoyed the presentation better if it included more games, activities, or demonstrations
Results Continued …
Follow-up education sessions
Sexual health education tailored to specific age groups
Sustained reciprocal communication between sexual health educators and school authorities
Training and support for sexual health educators
Proposed Recommendations
LimitationsNot generalizable to all Indigenous youth
in Canada, nor all high school students in Labrador
Social desirability bias given that the questionnaire addressed a sensitive topic and was self-administered
Volunteer bias given that non-probability sampling was employed
ImplicationsThis project has the potential to:
Inform future program design or the tailoring of the LFC’s HIV/AIDS project;
Assist community organizations and decision-makers to better understand what methods of prevention are preferred;
Highlight specific subgroups that may benefit from additional education or support, and a
Sustainable evaluation process.
DisseminationAim to provide understandable and accessible reports to: • participants who have requested a
copy of research results;• participating high schools;• community partners (LFC &
NunatuKavut); • school board;• funding agencies; • broader Indigenous community
through brief summary reports, and• publication in peer-reviewed
journals.
Thank-you!