Synergizing Health Interventions for Toronto Gay & Bisexual Men (SHIFT)

The Synergizing Health Interventions for Toronto gay and bisexual men (SHIFT) study is a three-year, community-based research project exploring task-shifting opportunities in the context of combination HIV prevention in the city of Toronto. In the first phase of the project, interviews with clinicians and community workers who work with transgender and cisgender, 2-spirit, queer, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) revealed that several tasks could be shifted from clinicians to community workers. These included: rapid HIV testing, support for HIV/STBBI self-testing, PrEP initiation and support, as well as peer-based mental health.