Health Promotion and Public Health Responses to HIV - Term Paper Example

HEALTH PROMOTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Health Promotion and Public Health Responses to HIV Keep It Alive Campaign Keep it alive is an African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO) initiative created for Caribbean as well as African people in Ontario in attempt to awareness concerning HIV/AIDS amongst Caribbean and African communities in Ontario (ACCHO, 2006). Basically the campaign encourages youth and adults from the Caribbean and Africa to fight against stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, to get tested so as to know their HIV status, as well as to practice safer sex (Campbell & Jones, 2009, p.18). The response was part of the HIV/AIDS Strategy for the Caribbean as well as African communities living in the Ontario. This Strategy as mentioned by Campbell and Jones (2009, p.18) was a framework for helping Caribbean and African organizations and communities in responding to HIV/AIDS. Besides that, the Strategy was as well a guide for governments and communities to collaborate in preventing HIV spread. This initiative involved a number of core elements: first element was the Media Campaign that was launched in 2006 targeting particular populations within Caribbean as well as African communities (same sex, families, youth, and francophone) by means of different forms of media (TV print, music and radio). In this case community members were invited by ACCHO so as to submit a video or written excerpt of them giving details on how they could start a discussion concerning HIV/AIDS with a person who is very important to their life. Afterwards, the selected finalists were supported by Top Drawer Creative, ACCHO as well as media organization so as to be the campaign spokesperson (Campbell & Jones, 2009). Furthermore, the campaign was spread all through the southern Ontario, indicating images of healthy black people with messages important for all subpopulations. Another core element was the Website whereby all components of the media campaign directed the members of the community were directed to the website (www.preventaids.ca) so as to access comprehensive information concerning HIV mode of transmission, way of preventing it and secret testing. Besides that, the website offered the service providers working with Caribbean and African populations tools for preventing transmission of HIV: HIV Prevention Manual and Guidelines as well as an educational video. Besides that, Strategy Workers were also a core element in this campaign: the Long-Term Care’s AIDS Bureau together with the Ontario Health Ministry funded positions in different organizations, which worked with Caribbean and African communities around Ontario (specifically Kitchener, Ottawa, and Niagara Region) so as to support the espousal of the HIV/AIDS Strategy for Caribbean as well as African communities living in Ontario. Joint meetings for the Strategy Workers was facilitated by ACCHO six times annually so as to synchronize and share their work, as well as talk about challenges. In this case, ACCHO constitutes individuals as well as organizations devoted to HIV education, prevention, support treatment, research, advocacy, and care Caribbean and African communities living in the Ontario. The ACCHO objective has been to reduce HIV prevalence amongst Caribbean and African people in Ontario as well as to improve life quality for infected people as well as those influenced by HIV/AIDS. The goals of ACCHO consist of: coordinating development of the strategy, implementing renewing/revising, as well as evaluating and monitoring the strategy; developing as well as synthesizing policy and knowledge, and setting priorities for supporting the implementation of ACCHO’s Vision and Strategy ; supporting the agencies’ work in putting the Strategy into practice; and developing as well as maintaining the relevance and effectiveness of ACCHO by means of initiatives on-going monitoring, like organizational development, as well as evaluation of ACCHO’s activities and membership (WE Magazine, 2008). Between 2009 and 2010, the Keep It Alive evaluation study was implemented by a team developed under the ACCHO auspices implemented with the intention of examining how the ‘Keep It Alive’ campaign was understood and received by African and Caribbean communities, as well as to evaluate community attitudes, knowledge, as well as behaviours towards HIV (Shimeles et al., 2012, p.2). For this reason, the evaluation included a survey and focus groups amongst the African and Caribbean communities in Toronto, Ottawa, and London. Generally, the participants in the focus group felt that the images of the Keep It Alive campaign were empowering as well as visually attractive, but they pointed out that the images quality dwarfed the messaging and that ‘HIV’ term was inadequately displayed. According to Shimeles et al. (2012, p.2), the messaging of the campaign was exceedingly subtle, so, a bolder message for HIV prevention was needed. Equally, due to the stigma related to HIV, some percentage of the targeted population favoured an approach that was more subtle. Some responded disclosed their wary of HIV being seen as a disease for the African or Black people, but other were contented to see the campaign implemented by as well as for the Black people. HIV Earlier Treatment and CHEP program In March 2014, the HIV Foundation organization together with Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM) hosted the ‘HIV Earlier Treatment Workshop’. During the workshop, numerous key opinion leaders from various parts of Australia were drew together so as to develop some educational tools intended for making sure that elimination of the CD4+ cell count restriction is well comprehended (HIV Foundation Queensland, 2014). Besides that, HIV Earlier Treatment Resource Kits were developed by the Foundation in May 2014, for people affected with HIV, their friends, and family, as w ell as clinicians. In this case, the draft kits were offered to the HIV/Sexual Health Nurses as well as s100 prescribers during June update course for s100 prescriber (HIV Foundation Queensland, 2014). Besides that, the Foundation collaborated with and Queensland Positive People (QPP) as well as the National Association of People with HIV Australia (NAPWHA) to make sure the inclusion of Queensland in ‘The Wait is Over’ national campaign that sought to encourage every person living with HIV to learn about the benefits brought about by early HIV treatment. Basically, the campaign targets HIV-infected people so as to educate them on the benefits of early treatment. By April 2014, every person in Australia with Medicare card was in a position to receive subsidized HIV treatment every time by means of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). This in consequence eliminated the barrier to earlier HIV treatment resulting in long term improved health outcomes for HIV-infected persons preventing illness as well as disease progression. Besides that, it resulted in low resistance risk for HIV treatment development and onward transmission risk was as well reduced. In essence, the CHEP (Community HIV Education & Prevention) program was initiated, in July 2013, to collaborate with E.N.D. H.I.V. campaign as well as strategy of Queensland. With offices in Brisbane as well as Cairns, the CHEP team conducts targeted HIV awareness as well as prevention activities all through the Queensland State with the objective to improve availability of condom for every Queenslander and with the aim to exhibit the significance of regular HIV testing (CHEP, 2014). Besides that, the campaign intended to promote strategies for HIV risk reduction by means of peer education to decrease HIV discrimination as well as stigma, and to create HIV awareness within the community through education and outreach sessions. Moreover, the CHEP program was funded by the HIV Foundation Queensland and hosted by QPP. in view of this, the QPP is not-for-profit organization financed by the Queensland Department of Health so as to offer service programs in peer support, treatment information, health promotion, as well as support for people infected and affected by HIV all through the Queensland (Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, 2015 ). The interests of Queenslanders living with HIV are represented by QPP, who strives to offer help to individuals who are geographically, culturally or socially isolated. Besides that, QPP runs a drop-in center and has been included in the national as well as the international network of HIV organizations. As a service agency for HIV, QPP develops initiates that recognise people living with HIV and that offers them with knowledge and skills needed for HIV prevention. The Real AIDS Prevention Project (RAPP) The Real AIDS Prevention Project (RAPP) is an intervention designed for HIV prevention at community-level for helping women who are sexually active together with their male partners reduce their HIV infection risk. This initiative was packaged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention project The Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI), and through its website (www.effectiveinterventions.org.) information for intervention materials as well as training is accessible (CDC, 2013). The RAPP objectives include; increasing constant use of condom by women together with their partners; changing the norms of the community in order that safer sex practices become a tolerable norm; and to involve many people within the community. This program had three stages; assessment of the community, mobilization, as well as maintenance (Rhodes, 2014, p.254). Assessment of community was carried out to learn about the community as well as how to initiate a conversation with the women together with their partners concerning HIV infection risk. The second phase of community mobilization entailed the community and activities for risk-reduction for women together with their partners (HI Works, 2013). The last phase, maintenance took place when activities of the project were operational, and evaluation was being carried out. In this case, three theories were behind the RAPP intervention: the behavior change Transtheoretical model which states that people behavioral change does not occur instantly but through numerous stages. Another theory was the diffusion of innovation theory, which states that new behaviors are likely to be adopted by people when they have been adopted by influential community members. The last theory is the social cognitive theory that states new behaviors are well learnt by people when trusted sources practice the behavior. As observed by Healthy Kern County (2013) RAPP has been successful in assisting women together with their partners to change their behavior. Women through this initiative were assisted to shift towards the consistent use of the condom, whereby they were given messages and condoms so as to adapt to the new change. Subsequent to taking part in this RAPP intervention, women staying in communities with high-risk intervention were more inclined to start using condom with their casual and steady partners as compared to women living in comparison communities (HI Works, 2013). Besides that, high risk women such as sex workers were consistently more inclined to use condoms with their sex partners. The initiative had numerous core elements that made part of the program that had to be done and were unchangeable. Core elements, as indicated by HI Works (2013), are vital and cannot be disregarded or changed. The core elements of RAPP included: Peer Network which involved recruitment of people from the community so as to join the peer network to communicate with men and women concerning HIV prevention as well as associated issues, issue educational materials as well as role model stories, and offer referrals. Another core element was Staged-based Encounters intended for searching the phase of change of the person, carry out one-on-one conversations encounters that resulted in trained specialists in outreach as well as peer volunteers for asking questions about condom use as well as attitudes. Another element was Role Model Stories, which were distributed and developed that were rooted in community members’ interviews concerning their behavior change decisions. Community Network was another core element meant for recruiting local organizations, agencies, as well as businesses so as to become part of the project to support the goals of the project. The community network was tasked with distributing and displaying role model stories as well as other materials for education and in sponsoring the activities. The last core element was the Small-Group Activities so as to host HIV/AIDS presentations as well as promote safer sex. As mentioned by HI Works (2013), small-group activities’ participation recruitment was integral to the RAPP outreach activities. The RAPP initiative was intended to support the new Advancing HIV Prevention program by CDC. The program was intended for reducing hurdles to early HIV infection diagnosis as well as improving the use of and access to treatment, quality medical care, in addition to enduring prevention services for HIV victims. As suggested by HI Works (2013), RAPP may be adapted for supporting the AHP four priority strategies in numerous ways such as making voluntary HIV testing a continuous element of medical care and implement new programs for HIV infections diagnosis outside medical environment. References ACCHO, 2006. "Keep It Alive" campaign. [Online] Available at: http://www.accho.ca/en/Programs/Campaigns-Social-Marketing [Accessed 27 July 2015]. Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, 2015. Treatment and Management Support Officer (QLD). [Online] Available at: http://www.afao.org.au/about-hiv/employment/job-vacancies/treatment-and-management-support-officer-qld#.VbZkbVLibK8 [Accessed 27 July 2015]. Campbell, K. & Jones, A., 2009. Prevention programs in developed countries: Lessons learned. A Report on prevention initiatives used to address HIV and AIDS prevention for African, Caribbean and Black populations in developed countries. Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD). CDC, 2013. Compendium of Evidence-Based Interventions and Best Practices for HIV Prevention. [Online] Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/prevention/research/compendium/rr/rapp.html [Accessed 27 July 2015]. CHEP, 2014. About CHEP. [Online] Available at: http://www.chep.hiv/about-chep/ [Accessed 27 July 2015]. Healthy Kern County, 2013. Real AIDS Prevention Project (RAPP). [Online] Available at: http://www.healthykern.org/index.php?module=promisepractice&controller=index&action=view&pid=3770 [Accessed 27 July 2015]. HI Works, 2013. REAL AIDS PREVENTION PROJECT. [Online] Available at: https://effectiveinterventions.cdc.gov/Files/RAPP_Procedural_Guide_8-09.pdf [Accessed 27 July 2015]. HIV Foundation Queensland, 2014. HIV Foundation Queensland - Annual Report. Annual Report. Fortitude Valley, QLD: HIV Foundation Queensland. HIV Foundation Queensland, 2014. Projects and Initiatives. [Online] Available at: http://hivfoundation.org.au/about-us/projects-and-initiatives [Accessed 27 JUly 2015]. Rhodes, S.D., 2014. Innovations in HIV Prevention Research and Practice through Community Engagement. New York: Springer. Shimeles, H. et al., 2012. Evaluation of the Keep it Alive! HIV Awareness and Prevention campaign for African, Caribbean and Black Communities in Ontario. Toronto, Ontario: African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO) ACCHO. WE Magazine, 2008. WE COMMUNITY – ACCHO: Keeping Busy Keeping it Alive. [Online] Available at: http://wemagonline.blogspot.com/2008/04/we-community-accho-keeping-busy-keeping.html [Accessed 27 July 2015]. Read More