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Critical scholarship has illustrated how COVID-19 public health policies can enact racism, classism, and cis-heteronormativity, perpetuating harms among vulnerable communities. We sought to examine the accounts of gay, bisexual, and queer men (GBQM) in Canada on how normative ideologies played out in COVID-19 directives and what impacts these orders had on their lives. Two rounds of semi-structured interviews with GBQM in Montreal (n = 30), Toronto (n = 33), and Vancouver (n = 30) were conducted between November 2020-February 2021 and June-October 2021 (N = 93). Our reflexive thematic analysis drew on the frameworks of cis-heteronormativity and intersectionality to examine how normative assumptions about kinship, sociality, and privilege in COVID-19 public health directives were understood and experienced by GBQM. Our participants explicated how cis-heteronormativity was pervasive in COVID-19 public health messaging, noting that stay-at-home orders and limits on social gatherings reinforced heterosexual forms of kinship. The privileging of cis-heteronormative sociality had detrimental effects on the sense of belonging and identity formation of many participants due to restricted access to queer spaces during the pandemic. Others indicated that stay-at-home orders failed to account for the heterogeneity of queer people's experiences of homelessness and structural racism. These findings provide valuable insights into how public health efforts to control COVID-19 infections have overlooked the complex forms of kinship among GBQM, the importance of queer spaces and community organizations, and the varying vulnerabilities of diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ+) groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examines the experiences of gay, bisexual, two-spirit and other men who have sex with men (GB2M) who use networking applications and their engagements with online sexual health outreach workers disseminating healthcare information through these digital spaces. The iCruise study was a longitudinal mixed-methods study across Ontario, Canada which collected data on online sexual health information seeking behaviors. Results offer insight into differences in information seeking behaviors among diverse groups of queer men. Implications for the dissemination of health information based on the results of information seeking patterns is discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To establish proof-of-concept of a novel rehabilitation self-management program that aims to optimize walking recovery after stroke through engaging patients in independent walking-related practice outside of supervised physiotherapy sessions. Materials and Methods: The Independent Mobility-related Physical ACTivity (IMPACT) Program is a coach-supported intervention that uses self-management strategies to empower patients to engage in additional autonomous walking-related activities after stroke during and after inpatient rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to assess whether implementation of this intervention would be associated with targeted patient behaviors; goal setting, negotiation and completion of a walking-related practice plan outside of formal therapy sessions. Using a pre-intervention/post-intervention design, the Independent Mobility-related Physical Activity program was implemented with a convenience sample of 10 adults (mean age 62.3; SD 11.7 years) within an inpatient stroke rehabilitation unit (mean stroke onset 25.3 [SD 10.5] days). Results: All participants were able to set a personal goal, negotiate an autonomous walking-related activity practice plan, and partially or completely adhere to that plan. Patients completed an average of 36 min/day of practice outside of supervised physiotherapy, practicing on weekdays and weekend days. All patients indicated that the Independent Mobility-related Physical Activity program helped them increase their activity, and indicated they would continue to practice walking-related activities beyond the coaching period. The IMPACT program is a feasible self-management strategy to facilitate walking-related practice outside of supervised therapy time during inpatient stroke rehabilitation. Patients were able to engage in goal-setting and practice plan development with support of a therapist-coach. Patients who are able to stand and walk with minimal assist were able to practice walking-related activities outside of formal therapy sessions. Therapists may benefit from specific training and support to adopt self-management strategies into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]