Engaging General Practitioners

"Developing and maintaining an open, non-judgemental practice will improve physician information gathering and ultimately advance all patient care. The Engaging Physicians Project is one step in the right direction for all clinicians and patients alike."
- Dr. Dwight Ferris Infectious Diseases, Kelowna, BC

General Practitioners are typically the first point of contact for individuals seeking health-related information, assessment, or referral. However, recent research suggests that for a specific cohort of men representing a more prevalent sector of the population than one might assume, health services are disproportionately avoided or under-utilized. Men who have sex with men (MSM), including men who do not identify as gay or bisexual, are reluctant to access healthcare services due to both the risk of exposure and the prejudicial attitudes reportedly exhibited by healthcare providers. Community health and disease management depend upon open communication between physicians and patients as well as confidential, non-judgemental, and informed healthcare service delivery, particularly in matters related to sexuality and sexual health. Regrettably, however, cultural attitudes towards MSM have been slow to change in the BC Interior, in spite of the psychological reclassification of homosexuality in 1974 from mental illness to a more tolerant view of sexual orientation, or in consideration of the legal and social rights more recently extended to this population group. In addition, heterosexism and internalized homophobia remain harmful social realities which prevent non self-identifying MSM (NSIM) from accessing and receiving vital health services. However, an innovative community collaboration between regional AIDS service organizations and General Practitioners in the BC Interior proposes to address this problem.