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PRICK! sees increase in patients

The rainbow friendly service offers STI and HIV screening monthly
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PRICK!, a men’s sexual health clinic, has seen a steady increase in clients accessing the service in Penticton and within Interior Health. Photo submitted

Since being initially offered in 2016, the PRICK! HIV and STI screening events have seen a steady increase in clients accessing the service.

These events, being offered in collaboration by the Men’s Health Initiative, Interior Health, and Options For Sexual Health, are especially geared toward the LGBTQ+ community and men who have sex with men (MSM), creating a safer space to talk about sexual health needs.

“When we began promoting a specific men’s event (for sexual health), the increase in men attending PRICK! and Options for Sexual Health increased significantly,” said Colleen Maloney, the health outreach nurse for the South Okanagan-Similkameen. “At the end of 2017, we saw an 80 per cent increase of men accessing Options for Sexual Health.”

According to Kim Kinakin, the co-ordinator for the Men’s Health Initiative, the 2017 SexNow survey run by the Community-Based Research Centre for Gay Men’s Health found that over 40 per cent of the MSM community in Canada was not “out” to their family doctors.

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“We know that folks that were not ‘out’ about their sexuality with their doctors are less likely to get tested, and those that are less likely to get tested are more at risk for STIs including HIV,” said Kinakin. “So we really want to have more access for folks to access STI testing services that are safer, sex-positive spaces that reflect the community’s needs.”

“I’ve been working in the area of sexual health in Penticton for 28 years and over that time, people in general, not just men are not necessarily comfortable talking with their doctors,” said Maloney. “And that could be because their doctors aren’t necessarily comfortable talking to them.”

Maloney explained most informational sheets that new patients fill out for a family doctor do not ask about sexuality. She said doctors need to know how to ask the right questions and to not make assumptions about their patients’ sexual orientation.

“You have to have an opening and a welcoming environment and give someone time to ask the questions. For example, if you are assuming that someone’s partner is male or female, or if they are married, you may just assume someone doesn’t need sexual health testing,” said Maloney. “In reality, people have a variety of different kinds of sexual relationships. And some people are not as open about that if doctors don’t give them an opportunity or use more neutral language.”

Kinakin said before these clinics began running monthly in Penticton and surrounding communities, the MSM community and the greater LGBTQ+ community didn’t have a designated safe space to access information and health care professionals for full-service HIV and STI screening.

Maloney used to work for Options for Sexual Health in Penticton and noted that they did not have many men accessing the service during their time there. She said historically the service was more associated with women using the clinic to access birth control.

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“We try to make the PRICK! events rainbow friendly and be very specific that the event is for them, because sometimes there have been some services in the past or even currently that offer STI testing but are generally for low-barrier testing for folks living on the street, and this community felt (by accessing the service) they are taking it away from that community,” said Kinakin. “So we wanted to have these be specifically marketed and made to be their space.”

Kinakin said ways they try to make the MSM and LGBTQ+ community comfortable at the PRICK! events includes “reaffirming messaging and posters that actually represent the rainbow community” and the “language used represents the gender and sexual minorities.”

Maloney said these events wouldn’t be possible without the help of volunteers who promote the event and attend as greeters to make the men feel comfortable in the space.

“You have to be welcoming and make a place they can identify with and be comfortable in, then you have to have health care providers who are open to and have the time to talk to men about their sexual health in a really comprehensive way,” said Maloney.

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“The PRICK! events are expanding into other communities within the Interior Health region. So we’re using our successes in places like Penticton to apply those,” said Maja Karlsson, manager of harm reduction and health outreach with Interior Health. “Conversations are happening to continue to provide these comfortable STI testings, and for HIV testing specifically (Interior Health) has done a lot of work around people being able to get an HIV test.”

Karlsson explained that previously, anyone who wanted to be tested for HIV needed a referral from a health care provider. Now, a person can walk into any Valley Medical lab or Interior Health lab and request a test.

For more information about upcoming PRICK! events, visit www.menshealthinitiative.com/prick.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Jordyn Thomson | Reporter
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