(ix) Healthcare access: While most of our ISgbMSM participants (70.7%, n=65) were on insurance with their school, some (13.0%, n=12) received insurance through their work and others who were permanent residents (11.9%, n=10) were on the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). There was also a small number of respondents (5.4%, n=5) that did not have any healthcare insurance coverage at all. Amongst survey participants, over half (53.3%, n=49) of respondents reported that they had a primary healthcare provider. Of those that reported having a healthcare provider, most of whom (46.8%) indicated that they preferred to a doctor through a walk-in clinic as opposed to having a regular family doctor (30.7%). Despite half of the respondents reported being comfortable discussing their sexuality and sexual health with their healthcare providers (50%, n=46), when asked where they would get their information on HIV and safer sex practices, less than expected (19.6%, n=18) of respondents indicated that they would get this information from their healthcare providers. The internet is still the most preferred method of accessing information on HIV and safer sex practices (92.4%, n=85).
92.4% Internet
Figure 7: Preferred Methods of Acquiring Information on HIV and Safer Sex. Amongst our participants, almost half (44.6%, n=41) reported having experienced language barriers while accessing healthcare or other social services since moving to Canada. However, even though a language barrier only impacted half of the group, an overwhelming proportion of respondents (80.4%, n=74) stated that it was important to them to receive programs and services that were culturally sensitive to their needs and experiences as East and Southeast Asian gbMSM men.
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ACAS2019/2020 ANNUAL REPORT