Have Your Say - Manchester Cuts
posted: 17/05/2011
People living in Manchester are asked for their views on the future of adult social care services in the city. The council has to save £109m this year, rising to £170m next – 25% of its whole budget.
The council’s plans for making cuts in adult social care are now available and there are 24 local events in May and June where council staff can explain the proposals, answer questions and help fill in questionnaires.
There are four main things the city council is asking residents about
- Supporting people services
- Cuts and changes in voluntary and community sector
- Changes to social care services
- Charges for social care services.
The city plans to change the way it allocates money to the voluntary sector and for supporting people, by assessing the quality and cost of services, and make more use of Telecare and equipment, and change the way it allocates money.
Manchester also proposes to change its charges for social care, for example, by ending its maximum charge so people who can pay more will pay the full cost, whatever that is.
How to have your say
You can read the proposals and then answer questions online, or you can visit one of the 24 events being held over the next three weeks.
Please take part
The more people with HIV living in Manchester who take part the better.
The main proposals and consultation for people with HIV is here. The last public event where you can ask questions is on Friday 3 June and you must send any comments in on this one by Wednesday 6 July.
Some of the documents are PowerPoint presentations that show you what they propose and you will need a computer programme to see this. Here is a link to the free Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer for you to download and install if you need this.
Councillor Glynn Evans, executive member for adults services at Manchester City Council said: "Manchester looks after a large number of vulnerable and elderly people who need support and care, and we remain committed to ensuring that we provide the best possible services, despite the very challenging circumstances.
"These proposals will affect people’s lives, so it is vitally important that all carers, residents and people who use our services themselves, tell us what they think and have their say.
"The council has to make significant savings to balance our smaller budget and we have seen a massive reduction in our budgets like supporting people. We believe these proposals are the fairest we could draw up in these very difficult times, but this is an open and genuine consultation process and all views and ideas will be considered."
Events across the city now
The adult social care consultation events began on 9 May and the last is on Friday 3 June.
Deadline for public comments varies with each of the consultations, two are on 14 June, another is 6 July, the last is on 8 August:
Social Care Consultations or phone the Contact Service on 0161 234 5001.
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HIV Stigma Rules?
posted: 22/02/2011
You can plainly see HIV stigma and fear in action when eight in ten young people know that HIV cannot be passed on by sharing mugs, yet three quarters of 12 to 18-year-olds say they still wouldn't share a mug with someone with HIV.
That’s HIV stigma and fear.
Even when people know the facts we often let our fears and prejudices rule.
Two new HIV knowledge and attitudes studies
Two recent studies, the first of teenagers in London from the HIV family charity Body and Soul, and the other of adults in the UK from NAT (National AIDS Trust), both show HIV ignorance and prejudice in action – and this seems to be worsening in recent years.
London teens reveal rejection
A recent study of London students aged 12-18 reveals a significant gap between what young people know about HIV and how they would behave towards someone living with HIV. While the majority know how HIV is passed on, many said that, despite this, they would not share a cup, shake hands with, or kiss someone who is living with HIV.
Social stigmas also rule: many young people said they would worry about the emotional strain and hostile reactions from young people around them, if they had a relationship with someone with HIV.
Despite all this, young people are keen to know more. 41 percent felt they had received too little information on HIV, and more than half (54 per cent) said they wanted to learn more about HIV.
Attitudes to HIV among 12-18 year olds in London: Report to Body and Soul
The research highlights the contradiction between what young people knew about HIV and how they said they would behave:
- While 81 per cent of young people knew that HIV could not be transmitted by sharing a cup, only 27 per cent of them went on to say that they would drink from the same cup as someone who they knew was HIV positive.
- Likewise, while 69 per cent of young people knew they could not get HIV by kissing, only 24 per cent of them went on to say they would kiss someone who they knew was HIV positive.
- Even some of the youngest people in the sample - 12 and 13 year olds - said they would not share a cup with, shake hands with or kiss someone who they knew was HIV positive, even if they knew it was not possible to get HIV that way. Crucially, this shows that HIV-related stigma starts at an early age.
Schools are the most important place for students to learn about HIV:
- Young people tended to feel that teachers were the most trustworthy source of information on HIV, suggesting that schools are a good route of communicating with young people on the topic.
- Communication by teachers also appears to have the potential to achieve impact: those who said they had been taught about HIV in school not only had higher levels of knowledge about how HIV is transmitted but also - to some extent - appeared to be less prejudiced towards people with HIV.
- Importantly, almost 1 in 3 of the young people consulted said they had either not been taught about HIV in their school, or did not know if they had.
Attitudes to HIV among 12-18 year olds in London
Rising Adult HIV Ignorance
HIV ignorance among adults seems to be rising, but two out of three adults say more needs doing to tackle HIV hate and prejudice in the UK.
- one in five adults do not know HIV is passed on through sex without a condom between a man and a woman
- Only three in ten adults (30%) can correctly pick from a list all of the ways HIV is and is not transmitted
- Rising numbers wrongly think spitting and biting pass on HIV
- 1 in 5 say someone in their family getting HIV would damage their relationship with them
- More than two thirds of British adults (68%) agree more needs to be done to tackle prejudice against people living with HIV in Britain.
NAT (National AIDS Trust) has just published the findings from its fourth HIV public opinion poll HIV: Public Knowledge and Attitudes 2010, carried out by the opinion polling organisation Ipsos MORI, amongst adults in Britain.
The report reveals a worrying rise in HIV ignorance over the past ten years.
Dispelling the transmission myths and misconceptions
The British public is confused about how HIV can be passed on. One in five people weren’t clear that sex without a condom between a man and a woman, or between two men are ways of getting, or passing on HIV. Public HIV knowledge seems to be falling, because around 1 in 10 more people knew this ten years ago.
Only three in ten people (30%) correctly picked all the ways HIV can and cannot be passed on.
One in 10 people believe the impossible – that spitting or kissing passes on HIV. This result is twice as bad as ten years before.
One in six people (17%) don’t feel they know enough about how to prevent HIV transmission during sex.
African and Carribbean people need more
Many African and Caribbean communities know less about HIV because they shy away from discussing it. The NAT survey shows that people from ethnic minorities are more likely than white people to say they 'don't know' the routes of HIV transmission.
In addition Asian and particularly African and Caribbean people 'are also likely not to mention sex without a condom between two men as a method of transmission.'
In the survey, 46 percent of African and Caribbean people polled did not mention sex between two men compared with 20 percent of whites.
Life with HIV
Encouragingly, most adults (70%) know people getting HIV won’t all die within three years, but 1 in 10 do think this. Two out of five wrongly believe that HIV test results aren't reliable until three months after HIV infection, and nearly half wrongly think pregnant mothers with HIV will always have babies with HIV.
People need a better grasp of the facts because knowledge curbs HIV fears that can discourage people from taking HIV tests and telling others about having HIV. More than two out of five adults want to know more about life with HIV here today, and more than half of all young people under 25 want to know about HIV life.
Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), told us:
‘As the number of people with HIV in the UK approaches 100,000, it is crucial for everyone to understand the facts around how HIV is passed on so they can protect themselves and others. Many people are unaware of the basics such as using a condom to protect themselves, whilst myths such as transmission from kissing and spitting are still perpetuated.
‘One of the most concerning aspects of this survey is the fact that knowledge of HIV transmission amongst the general public has declined significantly over the last ten years. With the number of HIV infections in the UK still going up, one in six people feeling they do not know enough about how to prevent HIV transmission during sex is simply too high. When it comes to protecting yourself from HIV infection, knowledge is power.
'The Government must take the lead in acting to improve understanding and so protect public health.’
Support or stigma and prejudice?
Most of the public have a supportive attitude, with two thirds (67%) saying they have sympathy for people with HIV and three quarters (74%) agreeing people with HIV deserve the same level of support and respect as people with cancer.
However, a significant minority of people continue to hold stigmatising and discriminatory views.
One in ten adults say they have little sympathy towards people with HIV, and this rises to three in ten if people got HIV through unprotected sex. Since almost everyone with HIV (95%) got HIV through unprotected sex, this rate of public blame and rejection looks worrying.
Friends, workers and relations
Feelings are affected by people having HIV. One in five people felt HIV would damage their relationship with a HIV positive family member or neighbour. At work, although two thirds agree they would be comfortable working with someone living with HIV, more than one in ten admitted they would be uncomfortable working with that person.
‘Tell the workers too’
Over a third of people think employers should tell other workers that one of them has HIV. The idea that workers have a ‘right to know’ is pointless as protection, because there is no risk of HIV transmission at work. This 'right to know' demand shows how HIV stigma undermines HIV workers’ rights to privacy and confidentiality.
Most know about HIV stigma
Two thirds of the public believe that there is still a great deal of stigma in the UK today around HIV and a similar proportion agree it is right there are laws to protect people with HIV from discrimination and that more needs to be done to tackle prejudice against people living with HIV in the UK.
Women are keener than men to tackle HIV prejudice, with 73% of women wanting to see action on this problem, compared with 62% of the men.
Time for government action
Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), concludes:
‘Whilst HIV treatment has advanced rapidly in the last ten years, knowledge and attitudes have sadly not kept pace – resulting in stigma and discrimination.
'In addition to improving knowledge of HIV, intensive work also needs to go into tackling the often deep-seated judgments and beliefs held about HIV and the people affected.
'The Government made a concerted and effective effort to tackle this stigma in mental health, and now it is time for HIV to be addressed in the same way.’
HIV - Public Knowledge and Attitudes 2011 - full report and data tables
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HIV ‘Inbetweeners’ and ‘Misfits’
posted: 21/02/2011
Life in my shoes challenges the stigma and prejudice around HIV and corrects misunderstandings about HIV transmission and treatment.It's a new campaign aimed at teenagers and families affected by HIV, organised by the London family HIV charity Body and Soul.
Life in My Shoes is fronted by actors from the popular television shows The Inbetweeners and Misfits, to appeal to teenage interests, and it offers young people exciting opportunities.
Could you be their star?
Life in my Shoes is a film which will be distributed to secondary schools. The campaign has begun with a competition to find a young person to star in the film. There’s a short script about HIV misconceptions and prejudices. You upload your auditions to the online gallery.
Help spread the word about Life in my Shoes - visit the website, and encourage young people to join the competition. The competition is for all between 14-21 who have stars in their eyes to be on screen, whether or not your life has been affected by HIV.
You can audition and star without saying anything about whether or how HIV affects you.
Young people with or affected by HIV should check the other wannabe stars in the audition gallery. It is a treat to see young people, who may not have thought much about HIV previously, reading the script and showing support for young people whose lives are touched by HIV.
Audition and upload
Upload you audition using their script before Thursday 17 March – St Patrick’s Day
Life in my Shoes is a response to findings from research commissioned by Body & Soul and undertaken by OPM into the attitudes of teenagers to HIV.
Download their report Attitudes to HIV among 12-18 years olds in London
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HIV Teenagers to Adults
posted: 21/02/2011
Older teenagers with HIV are our HIV pioneers because they are the first generation of young people growing up with HIV. Being the first at anything is often exciting, but with HIV it can be much less fun and more of a struggle.
Making the change better
The Children and Young People HIV Network are working to make it easier to move from being a teenager with HIV to being an adult with HIV.
Young people with HIV have two main challenges
- growing up from a child to adult with HIV (e.g. beginnning sex and relationships with HIV)
- moving from children's HIV clinic and education, into adult HIV services and employment or claiming benefits with HIV.
The Children and Young People’s HIV Network have now finished checking all the expert articles and books about changing from child to adult with HIV in a ‘literature review’.
They looked to learn lessons about improving the change from child to adult, including learning from experience with other conditions like diabetes and epilespy.
The HIV child to adult change literature review is here
The review
- has statistics about young people with HIV in the UK
- finds existing policies and guidelines for the child to adult change
- looks for useful lessons from other longterm conditions, like diabetes
- considers the needs of carers and family
- considers rural areas with very low numbers of young people with HIV.
Professionals tell us
Last week we pointed out the useful article where HIV health workers describe helping teenagers to make the change from child to adult with HIV, which is in the 200th issue of HIVTreatment Update.
Teens talking life with HIV
Two young people making these changes talk about their own lives. JD Bailey (20, female) talks about growing up with HIV, and Max, (19, male) talks about telling others about HIV
‘Transition of care from a paediatric to adult setting is not specific to HIV … However there are important differences … with HIV which may make this process more difficult’ Lyall, 2007.
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Manchester Event - HIV and Young Carers
posted: 27/01/2011
Young carers and families affected by HIV are under the spotlight at an event in Manchester, in early February.
The Children's Society are running a training and consultation event Affecting Change for Families: Improving services for young carers and their families affected by HIV
on Friday 4th February 2011 at the famous Midland hotel in central Manchester.
No-one is sure how many children in the UK are caring for someone in their home with HIV. It is estimated that there are between 15,000 to 20,000 young carers of people with HIV.
This free event aims to ensure those involved in providing services to families affected by HIV including service managers, policy leads, and senior practitioners in health and the Voluntary and Statutory Sector are equipped with the latest guidance and are able to identify and respond to when a children and/or young people is taking on a caring role and to address wider family issues.
The event
- Find out about the Children's Society’s young carers and families HIV work, funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation
- Learn about the issues faced by young carers and their families affected by HIV
- Obtain new Good Practice guidance in multi-agency working with families affected by HIV
- Inform national practice with your own expertise.
Booking form
More information and bookings
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