Understanding the Perspectives of Women Who Use Intravenous Drugs and are Experiencing Homelessness in an Urban Centre in Canada: An Analysis of Ethnographic Data.

Injection drug use has long been a topic of investigation, whether through a health or criminal justice lens. Whilst these bodies of literature offer important perspectives, missing from the extant literature is evidence, particularly involving women who use drugs, and more specifically evidence about the health beliefs of these women. To address this knowledge gap, we undertook an ethnographic study of homeless women in downtown Ottawa who inject drugs.

The Process of Injection Drug Use Among Homeless Women in Ottawa, Canada: A Qualitative Study.

Background: The literature on women who use injection drugs (WUIDs) is antiquated and diluted by data from men. Due to the higher rates of morbidity and mortality among WUID, we undertook a qualitative study to better understand their drug use practices.

Methods: We adopted a Deleuze-Guattarian lens and engaged in semi-structured interviews with 35 women in Ottawa, Canada.

The Experience of Violence Against Women Who Use Injection Drugs: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.

Background: While literature exists about persons who use injection drugs, few studies explore the experience of women who use these substances. Furthermore, even less research specifically focuses on the lives and experiences of homeless women who use injection drugs. What literature does exist, moreover, is often dated and primarily addresses concerns about infectious disease transmission among these women; and some highlight that these women have lives fraught with violence.

Consideration of sexually transmitted infections in the differential diagnosis: Case studies.

Background And Purpose: The rates of many sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have increased in recent years. Many health care professionals miss these potential diagnoses in clinical practice.

Methods: Two case studies are presented, one an adult female with dysuria; the other an adult male with a rash.

Clinical ethics issues in HIV care in Canada: an institutional ethnographic study.

Background: This is a study involving three HIV clinics in the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Manitoba. We sought to identify ethical issues involving health care providers and clinic clients in these settings, and to gain an understanding of how different ethical issues are managed by these groups.

Methods: We used an institutional ethnographic method to investigate ethical issues in HIV clinics.

The ethical case for providing cost-free access to lifesaving HIV medications in Canada: Implications of a qualitative study.

Antiretroviral therapy for HIV can be expensive if paid for out of pocket. In Canada, there are a variety of federal, provincial, and private prescription drug plans that lower the cost of these lifesaving medications for people living with HIV, and in some cases, these plans result in cost-free access. However, many people living with HIV must contend with high deductibles for their antiretroviral therapies, and many experience difficulty managing the administrative requirements of their drug plans.

HIV status and sexual behaviour among gay men in Ottawa: considerations for public health.

Objectives: HIV prevention efforts, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM), have not achieved maximum effectiveness. A survey of MSM in Ottawa, Canada was completed to ascertain whether there were differences in how the perceived HIV status of participants and their partners influenced sexual practices.

Methods: Self-directed surveys were administered to a convenience sample of 721 MSM in Ottawa, Canada from November 2011 through May 2012.

Overviewing a Nurse-Led, Community-Based HIV PEP Program: Applying the Extant Literature in Frontline Practice.

This clinical concept paper overviews a program to facilitate access to postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. The project, which was a collaborative initiative involving the local School of Nursing, public health unit, AIDS service organization, hospital-based HIV clinic, and an outpatient pharmacy, was implemented to circumvent common barriers to care identified in the literature. In this project, persons who present to one of the two participating clinics after having come, or likely having come, into contact with HIV within the previous 72 hr, are offered rapid HIV testing, also known as point-of-care (POC) testing, to rule out existing HIV infection, and provided with a follow-up appointment booked at the HIV clinic.