Sex Education by Theatre (SExT): the impact of a culturally empowering, theatre-based, peer education intervention on the sexual health self-efficacy of newcomer youth in Canada

ABSTRACT

Despite rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and inequitable access to education and services, few studies have addressed the unique sex education needs of newcomer youth in Canada and other increasingly demographically diverse Western countries. This study involved the design, implementation and evaluation of a novel and innovative participatory action research project, SExT: Sex Education by Theatre. SExT is a theatre-based, culturally empowering, peer education intervention piloted in a multicultural area of Toronto. Young people were trained as peer educators through participation in theatre-based workshops culminating in the performance of a new play for peers. Mixed methods evaluation involved surveys, focus groups, peer interviews and arts-based data collection. Paired-samples t-tests were conducted to investigate changes in sexual health self-efficacy (protection, STI/HIV testing, sexual limit-setting) over three time-points (pre, post, 4-month follow-up). Thematic analysis was used to gain a deeper understanding of outcomes. Quantitative analysis demonstrated significant improvements in outcome measures from pre– to post-intervention that were maintained at follow-up. Qualitative data indicated increased sexual health self-efficacy attributed to SExT. Pilot study findings suggest that SExT may serve as a model for sexual health interventions in areas populated by newcomer and other priority youth groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual health education
• theatre
• peer education
• young people
• newcomer
• immigrant

Acknowledgments

Heartfelt thanks go to the youth who shared their experiences, insights and gifts. Thank you too goes to Isfandyar Virani for graphics and technical support. Appreciation is extended to Lynn Fels and Samuel Kirshner for their guidance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

A training award from the CIHR Social Research Centre in HIV Prevention at the University of Toronto and a partnership with the Flemingdon Health Centre supported this work.