Unravelling Barriers to Accessing HIV Prevention Services Experienced by African and Caribbean Communities in Canada: Lessons from Toronto

Abstract

Barriers to accessing HIV-prevention services, experienced by African and Caribbean communities in Canada, is an issue warranting sustained research. This study seeks to achieve a better understanding of the nature of HIV-prevention services in Canada, and to explore the dynamics, which underpin barriers to accessing these services confronting African and Caribbean populations in Toronto (Canada). This study also endeavours to assess what is being done to reduce these barriers. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with 7 professionals and community workers who were involved in organizing, researching and delivering HIV-prevention services were conducted for this study. Four themes pertaining to barriers to accessing HIV-prevention services, including, levels of cultural competence and sensitivity among service providers; cultural and social stigma directed at persons living with HIV/AIDS; various social determinants of health, including gender, race and precarious immigration status’; as well as constrained funding resources that are available for service providers; were uncovered in the findings of the study. The paper concludes that several health promotion and health education initiatives exist, which can help reduce these barriers to HIV-prevention service access for these populations. However, in order to ensure their effectiveness there will be much needed involvement from community and other relevant government agencies, which will need to work separately and in conjunction with one another, in order to tackle some of the broader issues that affect these populations.

Barriers and Facilitators to HIV Testing in Migrants in High-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

“…Research on migrants in Australia, the US, Canada and Europe highlight migrants' vulnerability to HIV, with rates exceeding those of the general host population [7][8][9][10][11][12]. A striking example of this comes from Belgium where, between 2002 and 2006, figures showed that, despite accounting for \1 per cent of the population, migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for nearly half (45.7 per cent) of newly diagnosed cases of HIV [11].…”

Barriers and Facilitators Affecting the HIV Care Cascade for Migrant People Living with HIV in Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development Countries: A Systematic Mixed Studies Review

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] An extensive body of literature indicates that MLWH in these countries face numerous barriers that hinder their HIV testing. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] This knowledge is critical for understanding what strategies are needed to improve HIV diagnosis and status awareness in MLWH.…”

Who is Black? The urgency of accurately defining the Black population when conducting health research in Canada

“…In recent research evaluating the health of Black people in Canada, many terms have been used to define who is Black. These include "Black individuals, people or communities;" 1,2 "Black Canadians;" 3 "African-Canadians;" 4 "African;" "Caribbean;" 5 "Black Africans;" 6 "African-Caribbean or African and Caribbean communities;" 7 "African Caribbean and Black" 8 or "African, Caribbean and Black;" 9 "African Nova Scotians," "Black Nova Scotians," "Individuals or people with African Descent" and "Black ethnicity." 10,11 The use of these varying expressions when describing Black people in health research hinders the comparability and usefulness of studies' findings.…”