Photo : Dalig Photography
Photo : Dalig Photography
To better understand the realities of gbMSM and hear the voices of people from diverse communities, we began the Mobilise! project with the creation of “community teams”. One or two peer researchers known as “team leaders” led each team discussion. After a training session, leaders recruited 6 to 8 people from their personal networks to participate in an activity aimed at discussing the issues that affect them. Guided by a discussion kit, participants exchanged views on prevention, sex, health, and barriers in access to different prevention options. From June 2015 to January 2017, over 20 teams held a discussion that was documented by team leaders in a short report. Community events (“Soirées Mobilise!“) open to the public were held as a follow up to the team discussions. In a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, leaders who had facilitated an activity shared what the members of their team had to say about advances in prevention and access to health services.
During the same period, we undertook an online questionnaire (the Mobilise! Survey) to better understand how gbMSM from the Montreal area make use of prevention strategies area and the barriers they face in accessing health services. Between May 2016 and January 2017, over 1000 participants responded to the questionnaire.
Mobilise! : L’Enquête (2016). Video to promote the survey by Xavier Simon, Laurent Pineault, Gabriel Daunais-Laurin et Patrice Bécotte (in French).
In October 2016, preliminary results from the survey and the community team discussions were presented at a community forum attended by more than 70 community members, prevention workers and health professionals. Discussions at the forum led to the identification of priorities for action to increase the use of combination prevention among gbMSM and optimize access to prevention and health services. These consultations led to the development of a community consensus statement aimed at challenging public decision-makers to take concrete action to improve service offerings and access to health services.