Task shifting counseling services for sexual minority men from clinicians to community health workers in Ontario, Canada: Opportunities and challenges

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Introduction Access to counseling services for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM) is limited. Task shifting, or the delegation of tasks from qualified clinicians to trained community health workers (CHWs), could help reduce this gap in services.Method We interviewed 19 clinicians (e.g., psychologists, physicians) and 14 CHWs on the prospect of task shifting counseling services in Ontario, Canada. Data were analyzed using a qualitative description approach.Results All participants agreed on the need to increase access to services for GBM and that we should think about mental health care more broadly than solely psychotherapy. Participants identified several ways that CHWs could get involved in counseling services, such as administering mental health screeners, learning counseling and support skills, obtaining supervision from licensed clinicians or co-leading therapy groups. However, several participants were wary of pushing the burden of mental health upon CHWs, who are often overworked and underpaid.Conclusion There is support from clinicians and CHWs for task shifting some counseling services. Findings from this study could help carve a path toward more creative solutions to address the psychosocial needs of GBM.