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Date of Report:
01/2009
Source:
New England AETC
The New England AIDS Education and Training Center (NEAETC) celebrated its 20th anniversary in October 2008. At a celebration event, six HIV-positive Resource Faculty, who have worked with NEAETC for over 15 years, were honored. Over the years, the Resource Faculty dedicated time to share their personal experiences with healthcare professionals throughout New England.
In the early years, the Resource Faculty were able to lead providers from expressed anger to an understanding of stigma while at the same time giving them an inside look at what AIDS could do to the human body. This education strategy allowed NEAETC to build a core group of providers who were both emotionally and intellectually prepared to provide care for very complex patients. On occasion, this type of training created highly emotional situations for both the faculty and the trainees because of the loss of six faculty (Wendy, Ric, Evie, Michael, Kerri, and Belinda). These losses brought both tremendous grief and an amplified urgency to strengthen the knowledge and skills of healthcare providers.
The past 12 years have brought a decrease in the overall acuity and morbidity associated with HIV. Therefore, the focus of the Resource Faculty shifted to discussions of the lived experience of people living with a chronic illness. Shirley outlines the many challenges for an aging African American woman experiencing the intersection of HIV, menopause, and bone disease. Jim, a gay white man who didn't die when most of his peer group did, helps providers understand the psychological stress associated with Hepatitis C and Opportunistic Infections. Darren, a young man told at 13 that he was HIV-positive, discusses growing up with HIV and all the struggles involved despite accomplishing successes in life such as marriage and kids. Carol and Michael, a married couple both struggling with HIV for over 15 years, discuss the profound differences in the progression of their diseases. Jonathan shares his experience as a HIV-positive man in recovery and the path to move beyond the stigma associated with substance abuse and HIV.
The Resource Faculty are the stimulus for the NEAETC model of clinical consultation. They often attend monthly trainings in community health centers to bring their view to the conversation. An annual favorite for the group is a training session with second year University of Massachusetts Medical School students. At this session, Resource Faculty meet with small groups of medical students to provide them with an opportunity to talk, interview, and ask any question directly to a person living with HIV.
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Recommended Training Strategies from the Resource Faculty
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When gathered as a panel, never identify how anyone was infected with HIV. Not knowing this information forces the audience to pay attention and drives home the point that the source of infection does not determine how the disease is managed, it only encourages stigma. |
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Sit with training participants at lunches and breaks to help those who are afraid to realize their fears. |
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Let the audience know that all questions are ok to ask if they are intended to increase knowledge of HIV care. |
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