Two Fresh Tools for GBT2Q

We’ve received this update from Health Initiative for Men

 

We’re excited to share two fresh tools aimed at empowering GBT2Q (gay, bi, trans, Two-Spirit, and Queer men) to care for their and their partners’ sexual health.

What are Tell Your Partners and Your Sexual Health Calculator?

Tell Your Partners allows community members who have been diagnosed with or exposed to an STI to anonymously notify their partners through SMS or email. The notification explains that the recipient ought to consider getting tested and refers them to a number of resources including the BC-wide services map we launched last month, CheckYourself.Today.

Your Sexual Health Calculatoris an evidence-based tool that allows users to determine their likelihood of transmitting HIV and other STIs based on different sexual activities, prevention methods, and the HIV status of the user and their sexual partners. More importantly, the calculator also generates a tailored prevention toolkit which lists and explains different prevention methods the user might want to consider taking up.

 

What’s new about Tell Your Partners and Your Sexual Health Calculator?

Both Tell Your Partners and Your Sexual Health Calculator are revamped versions of tools that were developed in 2011 for HIM’s What’s Your Number resource.

The original tools on What’s Your Number remain popular with community members and sexual health service providers, and we wanted to make them even more useful by reflecting advances that have happened since the original tools were introduced.

The reconstructed and rebranded tools are now more user-friendly and, more importantly, include combination prevention methods that either didn’t exist or weren’t easily available in 2011 (especially U=U and PrEP). We also looked to better empower community members by providing them tailored options of prevention tools and services they might want to access. Finally, both tools are now more inclusive of the potential experiences of trans community members, and decentre the language of “risk” which we know may be counterproductive to the important efforts of destigmatizing HIV.

 

Who developed Tell Your Partners and Your Sexual Health Calculator?

CheckYourself.today was developed by Health Initiative for Men (HIM). We’re a non-profit that aims to better the health and well-being of GBT2Q men in Vancouver, and across BC.

Along with our in-house expertise, we spoke to a number of health and community organizations and practitioners to ensure that both tools are accurate and presented in a tone that is inclusive, effective, and non-stigmatizing. If you were one of these many organizations or practitioners, thank you for taking the time to talk to us!

 

Next steps

Please share these resources among your networks as well as GBT2Q accessing your services!

Those of you in British Columbia may also receive a mailed package from us that will include promotional material for both tools: posters as well as business-sized cards that can discreetly be handed out to GBT2Q who access your services.

If you’re on Facebook, you can also find digital promotional material being shared on HIM’s page. Please feel free to repost us on your social media pages as well with the link checkhimout.ca/tools.