HIM Community Consultations

Social Health

It gets better when we make it better. At HIM, we have a pretty simple idea: gay men with high self-esteem tend to live healthier lives and have access to better health choices. We're interested in improving social health factors that impact gay men, including the big-picture stuff like homophobia and heterosexism.

Community Consultation

Posted by HIM on Monday September 12th, 2011

Part of what makes HIM so special is that we make sure our efforts are targeted and tailored to the right guys.  This can be done in a number of ways from using the right language to putting our messages in the right places.  We’ve also been known to use some pretty ‘eye-catching’ images from time to time.  However all of this would be pointless if we don’t know what’s going on in the lives of gay men and other men who have sex with men (OMSM) so that we know that our message is the right one.
Since there is not a monolithic gay experience HIM is engaging with communities and populations of gay men and other men who have sex with men in metro Vancouver.
While the overall aim is to improve the programming that we offer and share what we've learned with other organizations and agencies that have an influence on our health, we also want to know more about the communities and populations we would like to serve.
There are three ways to get involved:
1)      Web Discussions: Join the discussion!  Answer one of our key questions or leave comments for other users.
2)      Focus Groups: We’re looking for guys who are willing to talk about their experiences in a group setting. Group topics include:

• Guys with non-Western backgrounds (Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, etc)
• Recent immigrants
• Bisexual guys
• Guys who love straight guys
• Guys older than 60
• Guys who like to cruise
• Guys who use sex venues (bathhouses etc.)
• Guys who live outside the City of Vancouver (New West, Richmond, etc.)

 3)      Interviews: We're looking for certain men to have one-on-one discussions with us. We’re looking for:

• men who are in long-term relationships, but are not in the 'gay' scene
• straight men who sometimes fool around with other men
• bisexual men
• guys who go to sex parties
• guys who sometimes use recreational drugs

Visit the consultation website for more details.
Email consultation@checkhimout.ca or call us at (604) 488-1001 x 225