LITERATURE REVIEW Research exploring Asian/Pacific-Islander men who have sex with men (APIMSM) and their risks relating to HIV emphasizes the importance of taking a more critical and holistic approach to understanding their needs in this regard. In a systematic review looking at factors influencing HIV risk-taking behaviours in APIMSM over a 20 years, it was identified that various factors, including demographic characteristics, personal psychological resources, interpersonal relationships (e.g. family, peers, romantic and sexual), community connection, culture, and structural factors are all associated with HIV risk behaviours(4). This highlights the importance of taking an intersectional approach that looks beyond one’s individual knowledge on HIV and sexual health, but to incorporate analysis of one’s environment, including culture, community, discrimination, immigration, and structural barriers, when undergoing a study that looks at Asian gbMSM needs, experiences, and challenges related to HIV prevention(4). Building upon this, international students identifying as gay, bisexual, and/or men who have sex with men (ISgbMSM) may likely face additional layers of challenges as it pertains to their experience of migration, which is characterized by a period of accelerated changes to their lives, including social, economic and intimate well-being(5). Most notably, the sudden loss of support networks results in a need to establish new friendships and kinship that are safe, supportive, and reflective of their needs as gbMSM(5). However, this loss of support networks, compounded with potential experiences of racial discrimination, language barriers, and financial challenges (e.g. employment) has been identified as factors that exacerbate outcomes of poorer mental health, substance use, and HIV infection(6). As such, the period immediately following migration for this group is has been deemed a formative time that can shape and develop long-lasting social networks, habits, and lifestyles, especially concerning factors such as sexual health practices and substance use(7,8).
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