IMPORTANCE OF THIS INITIATIVE
Indigenous women and gender-diverse people can face many challenges as they navigate HIV testing, diagnosis, and living long term with HIV.
In this project Indigenous women and gender-diverse people tell personal stories of their paths to living well with HIV.
Their stories are unique with common threads that bring messages of hope. There is an urgent need for efforts to disrupt HIV-related stigma and discrimination, spread accurate information about HIV, and eliminate all barriers to people living well.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: A POWERFUL, ORGANIC PROCESS
This project is related to the study “Understanding HIV-Related Stigma Through Photo-voice". As a follow-up to that study, we recruited participants to create digital stories about their experiences living with HIV.
Because of the interest and advice of the first participants who created digital stories, the project took shape by focusing specifically on the stories of Indigenous women and gender-diverse people.
During this project, participants learn about creating digital stories, write their own story, and collect pictures, videos and music to illustrate their story. The components are put together by a graphic designer in the form of a 3-to-6-minute digital story.
The aim of this project
To create opportunities for lived experience voices to tell stories of living with HIV, the associated stigmas and discrimination, and their paths to living well.
The intent is to dispel myths about HIV and create awareness of how individuals, services providers, governments and communities can eliminate barriers to living well with HIV.
Through bringing to light the multifaceted nature of stigma and its barriers to healthcare and social support, the project advocates for changes in policy and practice by revealing the voices of those affected.
Photo by Lisa Patrick
Seeing Through Their Eyes: A glimpse into the Hearts of Indigenous Women AND GENDER-DIVERSE PEOPLE.
Region
Manitoba
The University of Manitoba and Nine Circles Community Health Centre in partnership with REACH
AREA's OF FOCUS
Overcoming Stigma
Supporting People Living With HIV
Partners
University of Manitoba; Nine Circles Community Health Centre
Original origin of funding:
Canadian Institutes of Health Research #FRN HRE-97105
Target audience
People living with HIV, service providers, and the public
Region
Manitoba
Project focus
Disrupting stigma; Living well with HIV
Project title
Journeys to living well with HIV: Positive stories by Indigenous women and gender-diverse people
Core team
Jay
Jay is a 2-Spirit metis women from Winnipeg Manitoba. She is a proud mother of 2 boys. Jay is a consultant in Manitoba where she is involved with the HIV Movement. She has worked and walked with different walks of life and is an advocate and spokesperson with those who live with HIV.
Melissa Morris
Melissa is a proud citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation. She is currently a student at University of Manitoba in the Faculty of Social Work. Melissa is passionate about working with her community and making change.
Lisa Patrick
Boozoo, Tansi my name is Lisa Patrick. I go by She/Her. I was born and raised in Winnipeg Manitoba. My late father is from Long Plain First Nation and my mother is from Roseau River First Nation. I raised my one and only daughter as a single mother in Winnipeg. I have lived experience of HIV for 16 years. Over the years where I found my new self, I like to give back to a community that has given me strength to carry on.
Elder Albert McLeod
Albert McLeod is a Status Indian with ancestry from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and the Metis communities of Cross Lake and Norway House in northern Manitoba. Albert lives in Winnipeg, where he works as a consultant specializing in Indigenous peoples, 2-Spirit history and identity, cultural reclamation, and cross-cultural training. In 2018, Albert received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Winnipeg.
Mike Payne
Mike is a community-based health centre, specializing in care, treatment and support for Manitobans Living with HIV and HCV. He is a member the Manitoba HIV Program Leadership Team and provides partnership oversight to regional and national collaborations including the Manitoba HIV Program Collective Impact Network and Manitoba's Community-Based Research Program.
Gayle Restall
Gayle Restall is a woman who is a third generation descendent of European settlers. She currently resides in Winnipeg Manitoba. She is an occupational therapist and a professor emerita at the University of Manitoba. Through her research and community service she channels her passion for eliminating the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV.
Creative Direction and Video Editing
Patrick Faucher and Bre Kelly
The initiative plays a critical role in addressing the HIV epidemic by:
· Bringing to light the multifaceted nature of stigma and its barriers to healthcare and social support.
· Advocating for needed changes to practices, policies and social structures that are identified by people with lived experience.
· Offering insights into the successful strategies for well-being adopted by individuals living with HIV.
The study emphasizes the importance of engaging with people who have lived experience with HIV. It includes:
· Stories and photographs from diverse participants, illustrating their unique journeys and strategies to achieve well-being.
· Quotes that reflect their personal battles and victories against stigma.
· Recommendations for supporting people with HIV, such as ensuring financial stability, creating culturally safe services, and providing education and peer support.
