Buzz kill: outreach workers as education facilitators for GBM’s sexual health literacy

In recent years, research has begun to examine the myriad of ways in which gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men acquire their sexual health literacy, be that from clinicians, peer groups, or online media. However, little is known about the impact interactions with front-line outreach workers have in informing what GBM know about their own sexual practices and wellbeing, and whether these interactions result in behaviour change. To address this, qualitative data from iCruise, a mixed-method study examining how gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men in Ontario, Canada, experienced sexual health outreach both in-person and online between July 2017 and January 2018, was examined. Results from 75 interviews indicated that few individuals had ever had interactions with outreach workers, but that outreach was viewed as an important and trusted tool for accessing information about one’s sexual health, specifically for those who were most marginalised within the gay community. These findings suggest that there exists a strong desire among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men to increase their sexual health literacy, but limited avenues to do so, implying the need for more creative, community-based, pathways to sexual health education.