Ontario Cohort Study & A/C Study Presentations – For WHAI Coordinators & Colleagues

Join WHAI Coordinators and our Provincial Office team to hear about the experiences of women living with HIV and who face systemic and structural risk factors for HIV acquisition.  The Ontario Cohort Study (OCS) and the A/C Study will be sharing information from their work in this area, focusing on trends amongst Cis and Trans and Non-Binary people.  You can read more about these studies here:

Ontario Cohort Study

The OHTN Cohort Study (OCS) is a community governed study of people living with HIV who are receiving care at 15 clinics across Ontario. Over 8,000 people have participated in OCS since 1995. The OCS collects data from participants through medical records abstraction and an annual interviewer-administered questionnaire. Preliminary data from 339 women who completed the annual questionnaire in 2021 will be presented and topics covered will include: housing stability, food insecurity, parenthood and parental stress, experiences of discrimination, services provided by AIDS Service and non-AIDS service organizations, antiretroviral treatment, and health outcomes.

A/C Study

The A/C Study was developed by a team of mostly ACB researchers and service providers in Toronto and Ottawa. The A/C Study was a community-based research project, and people from ACB communities played leading roles in all aspects of the project. Phase One collected data from 1,380 individuals who represented a broad cross-section of ACB communities. Data collection in this phase included a survey, a collection of a blood sample that was used to screen for HIV, linkage to health administrative data, and a point-of-care HIV test for participants who wanted to know their HIV status. Phase Two consisted of a two-day online workshop where information about the A/C Study was shared with the public for discussion. Twelve focus group discussions were held during the event to gather information regarding the public’s reaction to the findings of the A/C Study.This presentation will provide a brief descriptive analysis of key characteristics of women participants in the A/C Study findings from Phase 1.

This meeting is for WHAI Coordinators, partners, and colleagues.  Check back for updates as the date gets closer.

Please email our Program Assistant, Kristin Boyer, at kboyer@whai.ca if you would like to attend this meeting.