Grindr, in partnership with PrEPster at The Love Tank, a not-for-profit that promotes the health and wellbeing of under-served communities, and Sexual Health London (SHL), have announced the launch of a new initiative that will enable London-based users to order free at-home STI self-sampling kits directly via the Grindr app, in a first of a kind service for dating apps.
The initiative aims to make it as easy and hassle-free as possible to get access to critical STI testing all via the app, whilst tackling some of the barriers to in-person STI testing, such as clinic operating hours, transportation, and fear of judgement – all of which have contributed to inequalities related to STIs for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM).
The launch is part of the Grindr for Equality programme, launched in 2012, which partners with various public health authorities and LGBTQ+ non-governmental organisations. Its ongoing mission is to help provide funding and advance key health and human rights goals for the LGBTQ+ community worldwide.
Out of all the regions, London has the highest rate of new STIs in England, with a rate of 1,397 diagnoses per 100,000 population, twice as high as the rate of 694 per 100,000 in England. Data shows that GBMSM in London have a 15 times higher STI new diagnosis rate than the rate observed for Londoners as a whole[1]. GBMSM who were not born in the UK or and who are not white British experience further health inequalities related to STIs, which this new initiative aims to address.
Self-sampling at home has become a strategy that Grindr employs to increasE testing among community members. To date, Grindr has expanded the reach of existing programmes in Ireland, Georgia, New Zealand and the USA. The reach from these partnerships has amounted to almost half a million test kits distributed globally.
“As we expand our Gaybourhoods in the digital realm it’s important for us to ensure we’re doing so in a safe way and encouraging Grindr users to frequently test for STIs,” said Steph Niaupari, from Grindr for Equality. “Through Grindr’s unique community of GBMSM individuals and by partnering with the right organisations we’re able to offer this new service to groups who are continuing to face many barriers to testing. We hope this is the first step to rolling out our future programme across the UK and providing greater access to self-sampling.”
Talking about the partnership, Dr Will Nutland from PrEPster at The Love Tank, said: “At PrEPster at The Love Tank, we work hard to support under-served groups within the LGBTQ+ community. Self-sampling can remove many of the barriers individuals face when accessing STI testing, and providing this feature within Grindr and in partnership with SHL enables us to reach and help to address sexual health inequalities faced. We couldn’t be more excited to be working with Grindr and SHL so we can support and encourage even more individuals to test for STIs.”
The self-sampling service embeds links into Grindr’s interface so that users remain within the app throughout the ordering process. Grindr does not collect or hold any information on any users that order a test kit.
Below details the process for Grindr users:
- While scrolling through their Grindr cascade, users can open their side drawer and click the new button feature ‘Free STI Kit’.
- When the user clicks the button, they will be taken to the SHL portal.
- To receive a self-sampling kit, users are asked to enter basic information including their address, date of birth and telephone number, all to confirm eligibility. This information is not held or shared with Grindr by SHL.
- Users will then receive a SMS to confirm they would like a kit to begin the process.
- Once the kit is received and completed, the user can send the kit off for free and can expect results within a few days after returning it.
- The results are not managed in the Grindr app, instead users will receive a notification when their results are available via SHL.
