As you step into Positive Living BC’s (PLBC) new Vancouver location at the corner of Seymour and Helmcken, you are met with a genuine feeling that you belong here. If you find yourself in the members lounge on the 4th floor of PLBC’s sunny new headquarters, you will meet the people who spent time on the frontlines in the response to the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 80’s and 90’s. Positive Living BC has been their home away from home, a safe haven and a hub for HIV/AIDS activism.
“Positive Living BC has a long-standing history of providing support, care and compassion for people diagnosed with HIV through its peer navigation system,” says Director of Fund Development, Jason Hjalmarson. “The motto here has always been – and continues to be – nothing about us without us. Our board has always been 100% comprised of people living with HIV.”
Increasing support over the years from the medical community, research centres, clinicians and academics has made Positive Living BC the first stop for people who have received an HIV diagnosis. The organization connects people with resources and healthcare services, including a new dental clinic offering care on-site.
“It may come as a surprise for those who realize most people living with HIV in British Columbia have a very low risk of transmitting HIV due to effective treatment,” says Hjalmarson. “But people with HIV are still dealing with stigma when it comes to accessing dental care and massage therapy, for example, so offering those services here at Positive Living is absolutely critical.”
In addition to offering healthcare services, the organization continues to cultivate long-standing, collaborative relationships with clinical and research partners such as the BC-CfE. Elgin Lim, Director of Programs and Services, points to the education programs and webinars the organizations host together and larger projects that allowed them to highlight BC’s very world-leading Treatment as Prevention¨ strategy.
“The BC-CfE and Positive Living BC went to Queensland, Australia, together – and it was fabulous. We showcased how community support and clinical care need not be separated and these partnerships can be fruitful,” says Lim.
Lim says the support of partners such BC-CfE highlights the options for care that are available to individuals, especially with the peer navigation system. Peer navigators provide mutual support including the support of another individual who may have lived through the same experience and dealing with similar challenges. Lim says the support allows people who are newly-diagnosed with HIV to feel connected and understood and less alone or isolated.
He also points to the larger public health benefits to connecting people diagnosed with HIV to Positive Living BC and the peer navigator program at the heart of the organization.
“We often serve people who may not consider HIV treatment as their most pressing need. They may be dealing with issues around precarious housing or mental health,” says Lim. “In that case, we can support them in accessing anti-retroviral treatment and ensuring they feel supported in taking their treatment.”
Improved and effective anti-retroviral therapy means fewer side effects, a near-normal life span and a dramatic difference in the fear and uncertainty that has historically accompanied an HIV diagnosis. However, Lim says there is still stigma in certain segments of the population on “perceived stigma” among those diagnosed with HIV.
“Diagnoses are not as dire but there is still stigma around intimacy, dating and sex and there are obstacles to moving on with the life you knew prior to an HIV diagnosis,” says Lim. “But peer navigators can be stabilizing force, fulfilling a need for communities that are struggling with chaotic lives, issues around addictions and mental health for whom this added diagnosis can be overwhelming.”
This article was originally published in the BC-CfE’s Forecast Newsletter.
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