Engage is a new sexual health research study with HIV-negative and HIV-positive gay, bi, and queer men, including trans and 2-spirit men and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM). The Engage study is happening in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, and has three primary aims:
1. to provide research evidence to inform HIV and STI prevention initiatives for Canadian gbMSM;
2. to build capacity for a
pan-Canadian network on HIV and sexual health research for gbMSM; and
3. to enhance community-researcher collaboration and bidirectional knowledge exchange by integrating community engagement into all stages of the project. Participation in Engage involves a 2.5-3-hour study visit, which includes completion of a confidential computer survey and testing for HIV and other STIs. Participants then go on to recruit other participants from their social and sexual networks using recruitment vouchers. This recruitment approach is called respondent-driven sampling (RDS). Participants who consent to be notified about other study opportunities will also be invited to participate in a 1-year follow-up study visit. Participants receive a $50 honorarium for their initial study visit, $50 for their 1-year follow-up study visit, and $15 for each person they recruit (up to 6 people). Honoraria can be accepted in cash, draw tickets, or a combination of both. Draw tickets are $10 each and can be put towards a $250 Best Buy gift card (odds: 1/25 per ticket) and/or a $2000 travel voucher (odds: 1/200 per ticket). For more information about Engage, visit our website at: www.engage-men.ca/toronto
Engage is housed at the Ryerson University HIV Prevention Lab. To learn more about the HIV Prevention Lab and its various research projects on HIV and gbMSM health, check out: www.hivprevlab.ca
