Arts-based HIV and STI prevention intervention with Northern and Indigenous youth in the Northwest Territories: study protocol for a non-randomised cohort pilot study

• Published in: BMJ Open
• Main Authors: Lys, Candice, Logie, Carmen, MacNeill, Nancy, Loppie, Charlotte, Dias, Lisa V., Masching, Renée, Gesink, Dionne
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMJ Publishing 2016
• Subjects: indigenous youth; HIV prevention; STI prevention; arts-based intervention; colonialism; Northwest Territories; Canada
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/74438; https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012399

Indigenous youth are disproportionately represented in new HIV infection rates in Canada. Current and historical contexts of colonisation and racism, disconnection from culture and land, as well as intergenerational trauma resulting from the legacy of residential schools are social drivers that elevate exposure to HIV among Indigenous peoples. Peer-education and arts-based interventions are increasingly used for HIV prevention with youth. Yet limited studies have evaluated longitudinal effects of arts-based approaches to HIV prevention with youth. The authors present a rationale and study protocol for an arts-based HIV prevention intervention with Northern and Indigenous youth in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada.