Social Care Rises in Importance

posted: 25/11/2009

While social care is growing more important for people with HIV, workforce standards and uncertain future funding all cause concerns, say expert government HIV advisers.
 

In its annual report and advice to the government, the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV, say that already 15% of people with HIV are 50 or over, and this proportion of older people will rise, faster.
 

This means services will face new service and information needs, such as about dealing with pensions, potential treatment clashes between HIV medicines and those for age-related conditions, as well as the long-term care needs of HIV positive people.
 

Workforce ignorance
The group warned there were "considerable gaps in knowledge about HIV" among social care and NHS staff. It also highlighted the government's failure to meet its pledge to introduce standards for delivering social care for people with HIV, which was part of its 2001 National Strategy on Sexual Health and HIV.

Aids Support Grant must be kept
The report worries about the "recent closure of HIV-specific services in some local authorities" and says the Department of Health must keep ring-fenced Aids Support Grant (ASG). This is for funding social care services for people with HIV/AIDS and totalled £21.8m in 2009-10, and the DH has promised to distribute a similar sum in 2010-11.

However, the grant's future beyond 2011 is uncertain, and a survey published by the National Aids Trust in August found a third of councils would cut services if the ring fence was removed. Community sector organisations were even more pessimistic about future HIV spending levels if this happened.
 

The expert group say: "The ASG has been an important catalyst in the development of services in local authorities and, as clinical experience illustrates, its continuation, indeed the monitoring of its use, is an important part of the package of care that is needed now and in the future."

Report of The Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV - Building on progress: Enhancing the response to HIV in England
 

image credit HIV and Social Care website

Source
 

50 Pounds for Fun and 100 Words

posted: 29/10/2009

Go out and have fun with some positive friends, write 100 words about it, take a photo (if you can) and send it all to Gus. Be quick - it needs to reach him no later than Friday 4 November. Gus says even a two-sentence quote will do, he doesn't want it to seem like an assignment!

Every published piece of writing for the Christmas and World AIDS Day issue of HIV Treatment Update will get £50.
 

Gus Cairns wants the Christmas/World AIDS Day issue of HIV Treatment Update to talk about your experiences of HIV socialising: how you meet other positive people and have fun with them.

The idea is to have it written by the people who go to groups and people who do things. It doesn’t matter if you think you can’t write proper English – send it in and he’ll tidy it up.

How do you  beat isolation and stigma?
As Gus says, HIV positive people often face isolation and stigma (sometimes self-imposed) but in line with the piece on happiness in the last HIV Treatment Update, they want people’s stories of how you overcome isolation and stigma.

• Do you have a circle of HIV positive friends you network with, or an HIV+friendly circle?
• How important is the social support of other HIV+ people to you?
• What activities do you enjoy doing together? Or
• Do you feel you lack social support and would like somewhere friendly and informal to go to?

The definition of a “social group” for this article is that it could be formal, semi-formal or completely informally organised, but shouldn’t feel formal.

Is my group OK?

• If it’s a formal group run by an organisation (HIV or otherwise), it should feel like a fun place to go: one of the African ‘let’s get together and have a meal and a chat’ groups for instance. Or an HIV disco night. Or something.
• Semi-formal means something like the London gay men’s HIV Meet-Up group.
• Informal means any group of poz friends who get together to do stuff now and then.
• It should NOT be about a “support group” in the classic sense. i.e. we don't want something about counselling or groups for people who are newly diagnosed.
• The other exclusion is that this isn’t primarily a piece about sex, dating or finding love, and although you may find romance (or a shag) in social groups, the emphasis is on meeting and hanging out with friends and potential friends.

Photos? permission and confidentiality
If you do go out and end up sending in photos, PLEASE make sure you have people’s consent to be featured in HIV Treatment Update and that the person's pictured are happy with people knowing or assuming that they may be HIV+. Alternatively, take photos that don’t identify people.
 

All contributions welcomes – this is a chance to get your name (disguised if you want) in HIV Treatment Update.
 

Send your pictures and words to Gus, editor of HIV Treatment Update by Friday 4 November.

How can I get HIV Treatment Update?
You can get HIV Treatment Update free here (pdf version)
click Add to basket, then (top right in basket area) click Proceed, then at the checkout click Proceed , and on the next page give your email etc details.
 

You can get a printed copy posted free here (free print version for people living with HIV) - simply follow the instructions above
 

Photos of Fun and 100 Words

posted: 02/10/2009

We want you to go out and have fun, write 100 words about the experience, ideally take a photo and send it to Gus.

Gus Cairns wants the Christmas/World AIDS Day issue of HIV Treatment Update to talk about your experiences of HIV social networking: how you meet other positive people and have fun with them. The idea is to have it largely written by the people who go to groups and people who do things. It doesn’t matter if you think you can’t write proper English – send it in and they’ll tidy it up.

How do you beat isolation and stigma?

As Gus says, HIV positive people often face isolation and stigma (sometimes self-imposed) but in line with the piece on happiness in the last HIV Treatment Update, they want people’s stories of how you overcome isolation and stigma.

• Do you have a circle of HIV positive friends you network with, or an HIV+friendly circle?
• How important is the social support of other HIV+ people to you?
• What activities do you enjoy doing together? Or, on the other hand,
• do you feel you lack social support and would like somewhere friendly and informal to go to?

The definition of a “social group” for this article is that it could be formal, semi-formal or completely informally organised, but shouldn’t feel  formal. 

• If it’s a formal group run or facilitated by an organisation (HIV or otherwise), it should be something that feels like a fun place to go: one of the African ‘let’s get together and have a meal and a chat’ groups for instance. Or an HIV disco night. Or something.
• Semi-formal means something like the London gay men’s HIV Meet-Up group – which is a model for this sort of thing.
• Informal means any group of poz friends who get together to do stuff now and then.
• It should NOT be about a “support group” in the classic sense. i.e. we are not looking for a piece on counselling or therapy groups for people who are newly diagnosed or whatever. These are a great resource, but not what this piece is about.
• The other exclusion is that this isn’t primarily a piece about sex, dating or finding love, and I don’t intend to cover dating sites etc…although one may well find romance (or a shag) in social groups, the emphasis is on meeting and hanging out with friends and potential friends.

So…I’m hoping this will work and people will write in about their fave ways of spending time together.

Photos? permission and confidentiality

If you do go out and end up sending in photos, PLEASE make sure you have people’s consent to be featured in HIV Treatment Update and that they’re happy with people knowing or assuming that they may be HIV+. Alternatively, take photos that don’t identify people.
All contributions welcomes – this is a chance to get your name (disguised if you want) in HIV Treatment Update.

Send your pictures and words to Gus, editor of HIV Treatment Update 

How can I get HIV Treatment Update?

You can get HIV Treatment Update free here (pdf version)

click Add to basket, then (top right in basket area) click Proceed, then at the checkout click Proceed , and on the next page give your email etc details.

You can get a printed copy posted free here (free print version for people living with HIV) - simply follow the instructions above

AIDS Project 3 image from Bryan Rollins Blog

Lancaster HIV Support

posted: 21/08/2009

A new monthly HIV support group starts meeting in Lancaster on Thursday evenings 10 September.

The North Lancashire HIV+ Social Support Group will meet every second Thursday of the month beginning on September 10th from 7pm to 9pm.

Every 2nd Thursday each month, at 7 - 9pm - the dates in 2009 are

10 September, 8 October, 12 November,17 December

In 2010 - 14 January, 11 February, 11 March, 8 April, 13 May, 10 June, 8 July, 12 August, 9 September, 14 October, 11 November, 9 December 2010. 

The group is open to everyone living with HIV regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race or nationality.

To find out more about the group and where it will meet, please call 

• Sue      07825 207 024
• Peter    07855 342 732

LongTerm Survivors Weekend

posted: 17/08/2009

The National Long Term Survivors Group runs weekends to help combat social isolation for people who have been HIV positive for longer than five years and who are unable to use local support.

There are a few last minute places available on their next weekend - Friday 18th – Sunday 20th September.

The weekends are not free but they have money from the Elton John AIDS Foundation which can help pay. This could pay the costs for some people, or part of the costs such as for childcare and travel. If you need help with funding, please ask NLTSG about the help that might be available for you.

Who can go on these weekends?

You need to have been HIV positive for 5 years and be "unable to access local support". The Group will make its own decisions on who gets places, but we think people living in Cumbria, and some parts of Lancashire and Cheshire will be able to show there is no or limited local HIV support available for them. They are also keen to offer places to other people in their priority groups

• Firstly, people living in rural areas where existing services are either thin on the ground or non-existent (eg we suggest this means most of Lancashire, all Cumbria, rural Cheshire)
• The second group is the over 50’s, which is a group that can find itself excluded from contemporary society and the social ‘scene’
• The third group is people who have been living with HIV for over 10 years
• The final group is HIV positive volunteers and workers in the HIV sector who often have difficulty accessing support and services in their local area as they try to maintain a professional relationship with other service users.

Booking

If you would like to attend this NLTSG weekend please be quick

• email bookings for an application form, or 
• leave a message on 07967 430797, or
• write to National Long Term Survivors, BM LTSG, London, WC1N 3XX.

Living Proof weekend dates in 2009

• 18 - 20 September
• 11 - 13 December

Weekend dates in 2010

• 26-28 March 2010
• 9 - 11 July 2010
• 24 - 26 September 2010
• 17 - 19 December 2010

The weekends start on Fridays at 3.30pm and finish on Sundays at about 4pm. They are held not far from Manchester, in nearby Staffordshire. The programme for the weekends is here

The weekends provide a safe, relaxed place to meet other people who have also been living with HIV and AIDS for five or more years.

A programme of activities is arranged for each weekend - group workshops, one-to-one counselling, complementary therapies - but it is entirely up to each person who attends the weekends as to whether they take part or not in these activities. Many people find the company and ability to talk freely about HIV, as well as many other issues, provides the greatest benefit.

National LT Survivors Group