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!