Speaking Up About HIV Stigma
By Genevieve Valek
In partnership with the Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA), Valek & Company assisted in developing Illinois HIV Care Connect’s annual quality improvement project. This year – which is the 7th year Valek & Co. has worked with IPHA on an annual project -- the topic chosen was the stigmatization of persons living with HIV and the campaign was titled “Speaking Up About HIV Stigma.” The stigmatization of persons living with HIV persists today, despite prevention and treatment breakthroughs that have made “getting to zero” new HIV cases in Illinois a realistic goal.
The campaign features persons living with HIV speaking frankly about HIV stigma, how it has affected their lives, and what they believe needs to be done to overcome HIV stigma in society. Nine different individuals tell their stories, with three stories translated into Spanish. Individuals wishing to add their voices on this topic can comment on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using @ILCareConnect #HIVStigma #SpeakingUp, or can complete a brief confidential survey about HIV stigma.
“We thought it was important to give persons living with HIV a platform to relate their experiences with HIV stigma rather than communicating this information with an organizational voice,” said Ray Valek, Valek & Co. president. “These are deeply personal stories that need to be told in the first person.”
To promote the stories, Valek & Co. created social media posts featuring quotations from the stories. Valek & Co. has encouraged engagement and driven awareness of the project on Twitter by tagging other accounts and organizations associated with the HIV community and by quote tweeting and retweeting related messages. The engagement on Twitter has been very effective in amplifying the voices and stories of people in the HIV community, driving the conversation forward.
In addition to fostering Twitter engagement, Valek & Co. boosted posts on Facebook and Instagram and distributed a news release about the campaign. Illinois HIV Care Connect is a statewide network providing medical case management, health care and support services to people living with HIV. Illinois HIV Care Connect’s eight lead agency offices serve people living with HIV in all of Illinois’ 102 counties. https://hivcareconnect.com