Staff • Halifax • 2025-02-27
Over a decade after its initial release, the Health Equity Alliance of Nova Scotia, HEAL NS (previously the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia) has released a new tool for sexual health self-care.
The original, Check Me Out 1.0, was a STI testing promotion campaign released in 2013 and was centred around a sexual health checklist for gay and bisexual men.
Chris Aucoin, now the HEAL NS Executive Director, developed this campaign when he realized how many healthcare professionals had a limited understanding of what sexual health tests to recommend to queer men, or were making assumptions about the types of sex queer men were engaging in when recommending tests. He wanted to spark conversation between queer men and their healthcare providers, while also creating a tool that would help focus this conversation on accurate information.
Last month, HEAL NS released an online, updated version of this tool, which encompasses many different lived experiences. Anyone living in Nova Scotia is able to use the Check Me Out checklist tool to generate a customized checklist of recommended sexual health tests and a routine testing schedule. Staff say that filling out the checklist will take 1-5 minutes.
On the Check Me Out website (www.checkmeout.ca), users are first asked a short list of questions about their body, sexual health practices, and other activities. These are used to figure out what tests are recommended. No identifying information is asked in this questionnaire, and all information is completely confidential.
Once the questions are submitted, a PDF is generated with personalized sexual health information specific to the submitter -- based on the answers there are over 380 versions of this checklist. The PDF can be saved, screenshotted or printed.
Starting conversations about sexual health can often be awkward or uncomfortable, and it can sometimes mean revealing information that is stigmatized or that might not be received well. Check Me Out helps reduce the stress and risk by beginning the conversation with your healthcare provider for you.
Here's an example checklist; click on it to see it in hi-rez.
This tool was developed in collaboration with local experts including Dr. Glenn Andrea; Cape Breton Centre for Sexual Health; PrideHealth; Sexual Health Nova Scotia; Halifax Sexual Health Centre; the Community Based Research Centre; Sexual Health Centre for Cumberland County; South Shore Sexual Health Centre; and Healing Our Nations.
The Check Me Out website complements this tool by providing information about local sexual health resources, as well as information on topics such as HIV, other STIs, Sexual Health and Gender Dysphoria and more.
