Mostly established at a time when positive people faced isolation and stigma and urgently needed social support, the role of Positive Living is now being questioned. David Menadue investigates.
Getting support
For people living with HIV/AIDS, wellbeing means more than just the absence of illness. Access to income support, employment, housing and other support services are all important.
NAPWA’s HIV Living Today Network and HIV Living Project work to ensure that governments and service providers understand and respond to the needs of positive people across the country.
Key aspects of this area of our work include responding to the government’s welfare reform agenda, advocating on behalf of positive people in their dealings with government agencies, and developing the capacity of PLWHAorganisations.
Benchmarks Towards a Better Place
Report • Contact: Peter Canavan • 15 December 2007 - 4:25pm
This report directly names problems and in some cases proposes solutions, around issues relating to stigma and discrimination, the ‘burden’ of illness, access to services, financial pressures, employment issues, access to services for people in rural and regional areas and peer support.
NAPWA Care and Support Audit
Discussion paper • Contact: Peter Canavan • 30 November 2007 - 6:00pm
The Care and Support Snapshot Survey (CSSS) prepared by NAPWA asks and then listens to the perceptions of a range of positive people. It includes a number of questions about service needs, constituency and representation, geography and the policy and advocacy work of NAPWA through the lens of positive people.
Making it real: Activating our Care and Support Response
From the December 2005 issue of Positive Living
The care and support needs of positive people are changing and remain poorly understood. A landmark NAPWA project aims to improve our knowledge in this important area, writes PETER CANAVAN.
Peer-to-peer
From the April 2005 issue of Positive Living
HIV peer support, one of our community’s first responses to the challenges of HIV/AIDS, remains as relevant as ever today, writes VIC PERRI.
Where we get support
p(standfirst). HIV raises all sorts of issues that we may find hard to deal with and there is nothing to be gained from trying to cope with our feelings in isolation. Needing emotional support doesn’t mean we’ve failed. In this section we talk about where and how we get support.
Your support options
There are many ways to get emotional support. don’t be afraid to shop around for what suits you. Your local PLWHA or AIDS Council is a good source of information and contacts for different kinds of support. See links pages. See also the section on Mental Wellbeing in the Looking after Our Health section.
Getting support
Many positive men and many of their negative partners have found that talking with others is a great way of getting support. And sex is one of the main issues they talk about.
The secret is finding the right support for you.