Drug use among the gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) community (2021)

Introduction and Rationale: The Greenhouse is a substance addiction recovery centre for marginalised and vulnerable communities that find it hard to seek help out of shame and fear of discrimination. We provide customised care that is holistic and integrated, within a safe and supportive environment. Given reports of substance use among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in Singapore, we embarked on a mixed-methods research study to explore the prevalence of drug use among GBMSM, but more importantly, delineate the reasons underpinning drug use, and developing evidence-based interventions and campaigns to address them.

Methods: The Greenhouse Community Study comprised a two-phase, sequential, mixed methods study design. The first phase (The Greenhouse Community Survey) was conducted from July to August 2019, and comprised a cross-sectional, observational survey among 538 GBMSM in Singapore. The second phase (Chasing Utopias) was conducted from November 2019 to February 2020, and comprised a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews with 33 GBMSM.