CCBR partnered with the Community Alliance for Accessible Treatment to collaboratively design and conduct a formative and outcomes evaluation of the Rainbow Resilience Program. The Rainbow Resilience Program addressed the critical health equity needs within 2SLGBTQ+ immigrant and refugee communities impacted by HIV/HCV in Ontario by conducting a needs assessment to better understand and address gaps in sexual health services in the province. The program designed and piloted an intervention focused on the needs assessment that provided training in culturally competent care with support from focused advisory committees. The intervention included training for service providers and frontline staff on providing culturally competent care, peer support networks to empower communities in advocating for their health needs, and building a comprehensive resource roadmap to support PLH who are new to Ontario navigate HIV/HCV and sexual health services. 

Our evaluation involved people living with HIV/HCV (PLH) and who are immigrant and refugee through engagement on a project-specific steering committee and as members of the evaluation team. We also engaged PLH, folks who support and provide sexual health services to immigrant and refugees living with HIV/AIDS, peer support workers, and intervention facilitators as participants in the evaluation through surveys, focus groups, and interviews to learn about how services are successfully reaching newcomer PLH, and what could be improved through the provision of more culturally competent care and peer support. 

CCBR also provided coaching on research and evaluation to increase CAAT’s capacity to promote the health and wellbeing of PLH who are facing access barriers related to their precarious status in Canada.