MOVING HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS FROM RISK TO REASONS
ViiV Healthcare is committed to helping providers and allied health professionals have open, honest discussions with Black women to remove stigma around HIV
More than 40 years after the start of the HIV epidemic, Black women remain disproportionately impacted by HIV. The introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) – medicine that significantly reduces a person’s chance of getting HIV through sex – is an important tool to drive down these numbers, moving us closer to making the dream of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic a reality.
However, prevention methods and treatment options are out of reach for some of the most impacted groups that could benefit from it. For example, only 13 percent of Black people who could benefit from PrEP have been prescribed it, according to the latest CDC HIV data.
“We have made incredible strides in terms of prevention over the last 10 years, but despite this progress, unfortunately we are still seeing disparities in terms of new HIV diagnoses,” explains Dr. Toyin Nwafor, MD, Senior Medical Director for HIV Prevention, ViiV Healthcare. “Black women account for more than 60 percent of new HIV diagnoses among American women. While we have effective tools for prevention, we need to overcome the many barriers that prevent access to them. Healthcare providers and allied health professionals can play a key role in reducing these disparities and talking about HIV prevention with Black women, who have been left out of this conversation for so long.”
On National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we must continue to reframe how healthcare providers and allied health professionals approach communications with Black women about HIV treatment and prevention. One way we are marching toward our goal is amplifying our Risk to Reasons initiative, which is dedicated to Black women’s needs, voices and leadership related to HIV. The initiative was designed to reframe and refocus HIV prevention and care by developing new messages, new messengers and new methods to increase awareness and action around prevention specifically designed to reach Black women.
Advocates for Youth is a Risk to Reasons grantee and a national non-profit based in Washington, DC, dedicated to ending the AIDS epidemic. Their campaign manager Char’Lee Marie King, shares why messaging and communicating appropriately with providers and allied health professionals are an essential part of the initiative.
“This work is important because you understand what it’s like to go see a doctor and a doctor doesn’t listen to you. When you’re telling them something is wrong with your body or you’re telling them you really need this, I really want to be on PrEP and they’re like you don’t need to be on PrEP – you’re not engaging in ‘risky sexual behaviors.’ It feels defeating. But when you do the work with love, and you do the work with that in mind – with you and your family and your sisters and your cousins in mind – you remember why it’s important to do it well,” said Marie King.
While stigma remains a barrier, healthcare providers and allied health professionals play a critical role in normalizing conversations about HIV prevention as part of standard care. If we can put an end to stigma, we can put an end to HIV. The best way to reduce stigma and shift the narrative from “risk” to “reasons” is by finding language and approaches that address patients’ individual circumstances; enhance intimacy; and avoid stigma, shame and re-traumatization. "As one of our colleagues put it - it’s the difference between ‘what’s the matter with you’ and really asking ‘what matters TO YOU’ when it comes to sexual health and HIV prevention,” says Amelia Korangy, Director of External Affairs.
AIDS United, a Risk to Reasons grantee, aims to inspire stigma-free perspectives on Black women’s health, optimize access to free HIV testing and ultimately provoke progressive HIV education and healthcare through their Melanated Movement campaign.
“Historically, the care of Black women has not been prioritized in this nation,” said Athena Cross, Vice President and Chief Program Officer. “What we try to do in this work is make sure we are elevating those voices and those stories and normalizing those conversations. We really are trying to center women and create spaces for them to exist as their whole selves with all of our desires, all of our thoughts, all of our pleasures and normalize that.”
For too long, these important discussions were left to HIV specialists. But prevention messages need to come at the primary care level, and there needs to be a recognition that sexual health is a part of overall health. “We talk about our physical health and mental health with our doctors, but sexual health needs to be part of that conversation, and not just when the patient brings it up or has a problem,” notes Dr. Nwafor.
Through the Risk to Reasons initiative, ViiV is equipping healthcare providers and allied health professionals with the tools they need to initiate these sexual health and prevention discussions with their patients. There’s an opportunity for providers and allied health professionals to join the conversation by utilizing materials such as the Risk to Reasons guide and activity books, that can serve as a resource.
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day represents a call-to-action for women to refocus on taking care of their whole self, which means their physical, mental and sexual health, including HIV prevention. For healthcare providers and allied health professionals, they have the power to shift the narrative with effective, sex-positive messaging and communication methods that can help bridge gaps in knowledge and access to treatment and prevention for Black women.
Visit Risk to Reasons to learn more about how we’re bridging the gap between healthcare providers/allied health professionals and patients.
