Theory and Practice: Examining PHAC's STI Assessment Guidelines Using Sexual Script Theory

Across Canada, the rates of many sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV, continue to fluctuate, with the numbers of new infections increasing within many subpopulations. This warrants an evaluation of the Public Health Agency of Canada's clinical guidelines for STI management. To accomplish this, Gagnon and Simon's work on sexual scripts has been used to explore the structure of current STI clinical practice. This theoretical analysis reveals some of the shortcomings of PHAC's guidelines, and identifies how they reduce patients to vectors of illness and disease.