New national initiative draws attention to major gaps in queer and trans health care
Despite massive gains in the acceptance and visibility of queer and trans men, gaps persist when it comes to their wellbeing – especially as it related to mental and sexual health. Unless we’re vigilant, those gaps will widen.
That warning is central to the newest initiative from the pan-Canadian collaboration known as Advance, a coalition dedicated to improving the accessibility and uptake of health services for gay, bi, trans, Two-Spirit and queer (GBT2Q) men.
That initiative – a series of Progress Cards – showcases salient statistics from the Community-Based Research Centre’s (CBRC) Sex Now Survey, the largest and longest running survey on the health and well-being of GBT2Q in Canada. The goal? Use large amounts of data to power traceable, actionable improvements in health outcomes for the community.
“For a long time, there was a dearth of information about GBT2Q men and our wellbeing,” said Len Tooley, a director at CBRC who has led the development of the cards with Advance.
“Thanks to a lot of advocacy and organizing by members of our community, projects like Sex Now are changing that narrative. However, now that we have these insights, how do we mobilize them in ways that actually lead to better outcomes? That’s where Progress Cards come in.”
The first card, created using Sex Now’s 2018 survey results, highlights inequities related to GBT2Q health at a national level – specifically when it comes to mental health, HIV and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections. Also in development are local iterations of the cards, giving more municipally focused organizations insights into the GBT2Q community in cities like Edmonton, Halifax and Montreal, among others.
The national card reveals that driving these inequities is, in part, a breakdown in communication between GBT2Q men, health providers and the health care system overall. For instance, one in five respondents are not out to their doctor, and a quarter don’t see a regular doctor or practitioner at all. These walls between GBT2Q men and their providers – whether created because of perceived or real prejudice, mistrust or a lack of cultural competency on the part of the provider – limits the information available to these men.
The card also highlights, for example, that one in seven GBT2Q men surveyed didn’t know about the highly effective HIV-prevention medication PrEP, which has been approved for use in Canada since 2016. Likewise, more than half of GBT2Q men eligible for a free HPV vaccine have not yet received one – likely because they don’t know they’re covered, or that they’re in a higher risk group for HPV.
“In order to change these stats, groups that work with GBT2Q men – be they community-led or front-line health care agencies – need to make smart and targeted efforts in the areas these cards identify as problems,” says Tooley. The goal, he explains, is to use the Progress Cards to trace how these problems improve or worsen over time.
“By highlighting regional strengths and weaknesses, these cards provide a roadmap to ensure more equitable access, more effective interventions and improved prevention, treatment and support for our communities.”
Download the National Progress Card here.