Horizons in Living Affected

Health Care Providers Settle with Justice Department Over Complaints of HIV Discrimination

By David W. Knight, J.D., Trial Attorney, Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has a leadership role in fighting discrimination against people who are living with HIV or AIDS. It addresses this responsibility through outreach and enforcement of Federal laws. For example, DOJ enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that protects individuals living with HIV or AIDS from discrimination. The ADA requires public accommodations, like doctors’ offices, medical clinics, hospitals and other health care providers to provide individuals with disabilities, including people living with HIV, equal access to goods, services, facilities, accommodations, advantages, and accommodations. DOJ’s work supports implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which identified reducing stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV as a key tactic in national efforts to reduce HIV-related health disparities.

Recent Enforcement Actions
On May 11, 2012, DOJ announced that it has reached two settlements resolving claims that health care providers refused to serve people with HIV in violation of the ADA. The first was based on a complaint filed by a man with HIV who went to the Mercy Medical Group Midtown Clinic in Sacramento, Calif. After meeting with the patient and examining him, a podiatrist at the clinic informed the patient of his treatment options. Although surgery was one of the options, the podiatrist incorrectly told the patient that he could not perform the surgery because of a risk that he would contract HIV from the patient during surgery. The United States determined that the podiatrist’s actions violated the ADA by denying the patient the full and equal enjoyment of the services offered at the clinic on the basis of his disability.
The second complaint was filed by a man with HIV who went to the Knoxville Chiropractic Clinic North in Knoxville, Tenn., for chiropractic treatment following an automobile accident. After examining him, the doctor determined that the patient required 24 subsequent appointments to treat his injuries. On his third visit to the clinic, however, the receptionist informed him that the doctor would not see him because they could not treat people “like him.” The United States determined that Knoxville Chiropractic Centers had a blanket policy of refusing treatment to persons with HIV in violation of the ADA.
“It is critical that people with disabilities, including HIV, not be denied equal access to goods and services, especially to health care services. The [DOJ’s] Civil Rights Division takes discrimination based on unfounded fears and stereotypes about HIV very seriously,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
The settlement agreements require the entities to develop and implement a non-discrimination policy and to train staff on the requirements of the ADA. In addition, the settlements called for penalties.
You can read the full press release about the settlements at the DOJ’s web site.

Outreach and Training
DOJ also continues to build on collaborations described previously in our post on the civil right to live free from discrimination on the basis of HIV/AIDS status. DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has performed additional training of AIDS service organization and advocacy groups in South Bend and Fort Wayne, Ind.; Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio; New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La.; Mobile, Ala.; St. Louis, Mo.; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla.; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
To learn more about the work, visit DOJ’s Fighting Discrimination Against People with HIV/AIDS section of the ADA.gov web site.

Keeping it Fresh and Living

NAPWA Announces New Leasdership The National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA) is proud to announce the election of Tyler TerMeer as Chair of its Board of Trustees. Mr. TerMeer replaces interim Chair Darryl Wong. In other Board changes, Representative at-large Thomas Petty was elected Secretary. Washington, D.C. attorney Petty was first elected to the Board of Trustees in 2011. Randall Lucero, Program Director of New Mexico's HIV/AIDS Advocacy Network (HAAN), has been elected Representative at-large to replace Mr. Petty. New Chair TerMeer brings youth to NAPWA's Board and programs. As a young adult living with HIV, he has presented at NAPWA's annual Positive Youth Institutes and currently serves as Director of the Ohio AIDS Coalition. Accepting election as Chair of NAPWA, Mr. TerMeer said, "I have built my life living with HIV over the last 8 years, reaching out to people in isolation. Those with a lack of support systems, who more than anything needed to feel a sense of belonging to a community. It's that sense of belonging that brings us the hope, the healing and the empowerment for the journey ahead. "I personally believe that NAPWA is that community. NAPWA lives in each and every person affected by this disease and it is our responsibility to guide them from isolation to the NAPWA community. "Over the next several years, NAPWA will play a crucial role as a guide down the Road to 2014, as we monitor and keep communities informed about the implementation of the major reforms of the Affordable Care Act, potential changes in the Ryan White Program, continuing implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and specifically how the shifting paradigm brought on by these changes impact people living with HIV in our nation." About NAPWA Founded in 1983, NAPWA is the largest and oldest national advocacy organization for PLWHA, and the most trusted voice in the HIV/AIDS community advocating for the lives and dignity of all people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, especially the more than 1.2 million Americans living with it today. To learn more, visit www.napwa.org.

Living the Life

Addressing Viral Hepatitis Among Minority Communities

By J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health (Acting), Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

J. Nadine Gracia

Since 1991, routine vaccinations of infants has reduced hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection rates in children by more than 95 percent. And the incidence of acute hepatitis C (HCV) has declined 90 percent since 1992, in large part due to the screening of the blood supply. This progress illustrates the impact that public health policies and practices can have in only a few decades. And these successes should be celebrated.
During May’s national observance of Hepatitis Awareness Month, we are reminded that several racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States are disproportionately affected by viral hepatitis¹.

• African Americans are twice as likely to be infected with HCV compared to the general U.S. population. While African Americans represent only 12 percent of the U.S. population, they make up roughly 22 percent of the estimated 3.2 million chronic HCV cases. (Read my earlier blog post about working to eliminate viral hepatitis disparities in the African American community.)

• Hispanic adults aged 40 years and older are 30 percent more likely to be newly infected with HBV than their non-Hispanic white counterparts, due to lower vaccination rates.

• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) represent half of the estimated 1.4 million HBV-infected persons in the U.S., despite the fact that they only make up 5 percent of the overall population, as Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Howard Koh observed in his blog post about this disparity earlier this month. While AAPIs have a disproportionately high prevalence of HBV, as well as liver cancer and liver failure associated with chronic infection, HBV is vaccine-preventable. However, many AAPIs encounter cultural barriers to receiving adequate and high quality health care² from an array of factors that may contribute to the high incidence of HBV-related mortality.

The HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) is working to address these disparities as a partner in the cross-agency implementation of the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis. In fact, OMH is a participating agency in more than a dozen of the specific actions detailed in the Action Plan. These efforts include working with Federal partners to reach specific at-risk populations with culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate evidence-based interventions to strengthen community-based programs providing testing and linkages to care, particularly those serving foreign-born populations, as well as by publishing periodic reports on viral-hepatitis-associated health disparities and integrating hepatitis A and B vaccination as a standard of care in Federal prevention and clinical programs that serve priority populations.
Among the steps OMH is taking is our partnership with the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO ) and the Hepatitis B Foundation to launch the Hep B United national campaign. The campaign aims to end hepatitis B by supporting community-based groups in their efforts to increase hepatitis B awareness, screening, vaccination, and access to care for all Americans, and AAPIs in particular. Just this week, the Hepatitis B Initiative of Washington, DC , a campaign partner, co-hosted an education session during the National Association of Professional Asian American Women conference to encourage screening and testing for viral hepatitis.

OMH encourages everyone to take the online viral hepatitis risk assessment recently launched by the CDC. In less than five minutes, this online tool will assess an individual’s risk for viral hepatitis in response to a series of questions — and will generate a summary of recommendations for testing and vaccination that people can print and take to their doctor to discuss. Our goal is that this risk assessment tool will raise awareness about this silent epidemic among members of the public, as well as the health care community. We are hoping that all of our partners will help us share information about this exciting new tool and encourage people to use it.
During Hepatitis Awareness Month and beyond, we invite all of you to join us, in and across your communities, as we continue our fight against viral hepatitis.
¹“Achieving health equity to eliminate racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in HBV-and HCV-associated liver disease.” The Journal of Family Practice. April 2010, Vol. 59, No. 04 Suppl: S37-S42. Accessed online at http://www.jfponline.com/pages.asp?AID=8516 May 29, 2012.
²Upadhyaya N,et. al. “Chronic hepatitis B: perceptions in Asian American communities and diagnosis and management practices among primary care physicians.” Postgrad Med. 2010 Sep; 122(5):165-75. Accessed via http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20861600 on May 29, 2012

OMNIBUS Rises Over the Horizon

OMNIBUS, a LGBT health journal designed to address issues and challenges faced by gays and lesbians navigating the health care system is in production and slated for a mid-June 2012 release. Under the auspices of The Living Affected Corporation's publishing arm, the periodical was initiated from the Healthy 20/20 community Innovations Project funded by Health Resources Services Administration in response to what the organization cited as "breaking the silence of LGBT Health in Arkansas along with bringing nontraditional advocates to the table."  "We have compiled a interesting mix of stories, concepts, observations and detailed information that will allow readers and or practitioners a snapshot into how the LGBTQ community perceives using the health care system." said D. Levi, LA Corp CEO. 
The journal chose the moniker, OMNIBUS as a signifier that the contents were a "collaboration of collections" of viewpoints and opinions. The organization believed that choosing that title encompassed also their H.E.F.T.E. ( Housing, Education, Food, Treatment, Employment) concept which serves as a social determinant foundation in the linkage to care continuum. Publication contributors were given a "health frame" to work within as to what subject they would like to investigate or cover in regards to the present institutional policies that often omit sexual minorities and have been marginal in increasing health literacy in the LGBTQ community. Upon completion of the journal, LA Corp intends to disturb the magazine among physicians, key policy makers and law makers who are instrumental in affecting change within these systems. For more information and future advertising opportunities contact: info@lacorponline.org


STRILITE Continues to Ramp for the Future

The emerging group STRILITE is preparing to announce the formation of its current structure and board of directors as well as being officially reconized by the State of Arkansas as a Non- Profit Incorporated entity. Being shepherded by the HIV Prevention programming of The Living Affected Corporation within the "D-Up/ Defend Yourself" intervention module, the group has been enthusiastic about the response to their existence and possible future programming. "We are excited that the word has hit the street about our group and what we intend to do as we grow," said group member Will T. "I've been surprised at the interest and questions that I've had since becoming apart of the project. I'm looking forward to sharing what I've learned and meeting and helping new people."  The group will begin hosting a organizational Open House on rotating Thursday's starting in June as a conintiuing means to "introduce" themselves to the community at large. This effort is to engage supporters and inform vendors of their "wish list" of items sought to assist with future projects. "It is our goal for volunteers and service providers to be invited to come "meet and greet" with members of the group and further understand the mission and vision of the group." said Kevin Holmes. Concluding he said, "plus check out our new "Safe Zone" from which we will offer peer services and promote community wide collaborations."  Weekly the group meets at its HQ for technical assistance and additional capacity building training on the concepts of the D-Up program and how to further build their organization. Using the parameters of this community level based intervention, STRILITE was developed to address decreasing the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS infections among Black gay men who are having sex with men. Since the groups inception, they have decided to also adopt their incubators position that social determinants are vital in successfully linking and retaining individuals into HIV/AIDS care. Currently scheduled for the group is participating in a back to school rally for the Argenta Presbyterian Church, August 11-12, formation of a HIV Support Group to be announced, unveiling its new web presence and social media activites, Organizational Open Houses commencing tentatively June 14 and a HELP Fair, September 28. For more information contact: strilite@gmail.com or Strilite Incorporated, P.O. Box 242281, Little Rock, AR 72227   The group is based at 401 N. Maple Suite A in North Little Rock, AR  Donations can be made at www.livingaffected.org using our secure Pay Pal portal. Can we count you to help make a difference?

The New Facebook Timeline: A Tool in Response to HIV

By Mindy Nichamin, AIDS.gov New Media Coordinator

It’s estimated that 96% of Facebook users never revisit fan pages¹ once they hit the “like” button. We at AIDS.gov hope this changes with the new features of the Facebook timeline for Facebook Pages.
Three months ago, Facebook announced that Facebook Page owners had a month to update their profiles to the new timeline format . Brands could enable the new timeline at anytime, and on March 30 brand pages were automatically converted to the timeline.
Some of the Facebook timeline features include:

• a cover photo, a larger photo spanning the top of the page
• right-hand timeline navigation
• milestones and events
• featured apps and customization
• highlighted posts
• more administrative options and direct messages

With this announcement, we did a lot of planning to figure out how to best use our page given the new timeline format. Since AIDS.gov joined Facebook in November 2007, Facebook has been a successful social network for us, where we’ve seen dialogue among our 15,000 followers (and growing) blossom. Our new media team discussed the vision for our page and how to continue to engage and reach users with blog posts and other federal HIV/AIDS updates.

We started by looking at what other brands were doing with their timelines and planned what our options were for each new feature. We decided to utilize the timeline to feature not just a history of AIDS.gov, but of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. since 1981. Using the new milestone feature, we repurposed content from our 30 Years of AIDS Timeline, and added new media milestones such as the launch of the AIDS.gov blog and our first tweet. Other timeline examples in the HIV community include Chat PDX , POZ Magazine , The Well Project , Greater Than AIDS , and The Red Pump Project who are using their pages to link to external content and other social network spaces.

Since converting our Facebook page to the new timeline format at the end of March, users continue to engage on our page and our follower base continues to increase. We hope the new page offers a unique educational opportunity where users spend more time exploring and sharing feedback. We’re excited to continue engaging our audiences through highlighted/featured wall posts, especially around HIV/AIDS awareness days and AIDS 2012 this summer.
We encourage you to visit the AIDS.gov Facebook page and the fan pages of the groups listed above to get ideas for modifying your Facebook page. Check in with your users and find out what changes they would like to see. Please check out our Facebook Page to go back in time (to 1981) to explore the history of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.

Rising While Living Affected

Summit Comes to Pine Bluff Campus


Campaign To End AIDS' (C2EA) will host a regional summit on the campus of the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, June 8 & 9th, 2013 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
The summit will feature sessions  around "Advocacy" and address ways Arkansas residents can begin taking an active role in advocating for themselves and promoting positive change for people living with HIV/AIDS in their communities. The sessions will include as many HIV/AIDS residents, AIDS service organizations, community based organizations, schools, churches, etc., as possible to be a part of the discussion.

Organizers hope to highlight the issues that not just affect people living with AIDS nationally, but the local needs of the people in your state. Issues discussed will include, but not limited to: housing and HOPWA, ADAP, Arkansas' political stand as it relates to people living with HIV/AIDS and the state's response to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, availability of services, and the state's re-entry program for people with HIV/AIDS released from penitentiaries.

They will also hear what issues not covered in this summit the HIV/AIDS community in Arkansas identifies as needing to be address.
The second day of the summit will be devoted to educating the HIV/AIDS residents of your communities about the "We Can End AIDS Mobilization for Economic Justice & Human Rights" demonstration in Washington, D.C. during the International AIDS Conference on July 24, 2012.

Campaign To End AIDS is a "grassroots" organization and funding for this type of event is limited at best. Past events such as this has been funded through fundraising activities by volunteers and associates to raise monies for those people who cannot afford the cost of travel and housing. For more information contact J. Raheem Harris, SW Regional Co-Chair, or For More on Campaign To End AIDS or the Mobilization:

http://www.c2ea.org

http://www.wecanendaids.org

Affecting Lives OUT Loud

HRSA Seeks Public Input on Ryan White Reauthorization

By Ronald Valdiserri, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, and Director, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Ronald Valdiserri

As part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) efforts to plan for the 2013 reauthorization of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has launched a number of activities to collect ideas from stakeholders that will inform our policy deliberations.
The Ryan White Program is the largest Federal program specifically dedicated to providing HIV care and treatment. It funds heavily impacted metropolitan areas, states, and local community-based organizations to provide life-saving medical care, medications, and support services to more than half a million people each year—including the uninsured and underinsured, racial and ethnic minorities, and people of all ages. Currently authorized by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009, the program will be up for reauthorization by the U.S. Congress in 2013.
Among the issues being discussed within HHS is the question of what the Ryan White program should look like in an environment of a health care system reformed by implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In light of the expansion of health insurance coverage that implementation of the ACA will bring, the Ryan White Program will certainly evolve. But as my colleague Dr. Deborah Parham Hopson, HRSA’s Associate Administrator for the HIV/AIDS Bureau, has noted, though the reauthorized Ryan White Program may ultimately look different, it will still serve as an important “safety net” for vulnerable populations living with HIV/AIDS.

Stakeholder Comments Sought
In a Federal Register Notice dated April 25, 2012, Dr. Mary K. Wakefield, Administrator of HRSA, invited comments from stakeholders about reauthorization of the Ryan White Program. HRSA encourages stakeholders, including grantees, advocacy organizations, State and local administrators, and other members of the Ryan White and HIV/AIDS communities to provide comments on all aspects of the program. Submit written comments online by July 31.

Listening Sessions Planned
HRSA has also announced that it will hold at least four webinar or teleconference listening sessions over the next few months to collect stakeholder input on Ryan White Program reauthorization issues. Each will focus on a different geographic region. Dates, times and other details will be published on HRSA’s Ryan White Reauthorization web page as they become available.

The services offered through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program continue to be an essential component of our efforts to reach the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. We look forward to working with our colleagues at HRSA and stakeholders from across the nation to consider how the program can most effectively be adapted in light of evolving needs, priorities and policies. I encourage you to share your thoughts on reauthorization via the forums that HRSA is making available.

In Living Color Monday

Men of Color Represent
STRILITE Arrives to Speak to Power

The Living and Affected Corporation was awarded as a Arkansas Department of Health sub grantee in the area of HIV Prevention earlier this year. The prevention grant was designed to continue to address ongoing issues and barriers of HIV and AIDS, especially in the people of color communities that have been disportionately impacted by the disease. Within the scope of that award the prevention programming attached was centered on a diffusion of evidenced based platform entitled the D-Up program better known as "Defend Yourself."  The basis of the community based intervention called for a group of black gay men to serve as conduits within the same gender loving community to discover "Opinion Leaders" who will facilitate communicating prevention messages to their inner and extended networks. As the program has developed, the core group has agreed upon branding the emerging entity as STRILITE. Pictured from the left to right: Will T. Kevin H., ADH Program Manager, Courtney Hampton, Johnathan G. and Derrick L.

The name is rooted in the foundation that each participant had a shared vision of "striving for enlightenment." According to the organizers, "we have to deal with our present as it begins to impact our future." The genesis of the organization evolved from the D-Up curriculum which creates a frame from which participants can forge a self identified group that would resonate among its peers. Currently the group has established itself formally with Articles of Incorporation, internal structure and has decided to be "incubated" by The Living and Affected Corporation as it capacity building provider. The group.has embarked on a journey to play a significant role in becoming involved with setting policy and raising consciousness concerning the messages and services being crafted to serve Black gay men living and or affected by HIV and AIDS. They are developing a schedule of events including a HELP Fair slated for later in the year, developing a support group model, plus participating in HIV Awareness programs and utilizing social media outlets as a medium to share their organizational information and future programming. The organization can be contacted at strilite@gmail.com or Strilite Incoporated, P.O. Box 242281 Little Rock, Arkansas, 72227 The group will be based at 401 North Maple, Suite A in North Little Rock, Arkansas.


Board Member Positions Available

The Living and Affected Corporation is seeking qualified indviduals who are interested in serving as organizational board members. The positions require indiviudals to attend regular monthly meetings, provide organizational oversight, appropriating fund raising thresholds and networking on behalf of the organization. Interested indiviudals can forward their resumes to: Board Positions, c/o The Living and Affected Corporation, P.O. Box 46558, Little Rock, Arkansas 72214 or contact 877.902.7HIV for more information.

Tech Geeks Wanted

If you are a tech wizard or geek, then there are opportunities for you with LA Corp. We care currently seeking individuals to join our team of creative minds and graphic contributors for our growing publishing arm. Positions are volunteer, but much work could be done from remote locations or mobile hot spots. Projects consist of fliers, pdf's, video, social media platforms, and or other print material as developed. Let us hear from you if you are interested in sharing your essential talents to help our organization continue to pursue social justice, equality and sexual health among marginalized communities. We need your vision and energy! Let us hear from you soon at info@lacorponline.org

Engaged and Empowered

HIV Prevention Breakthrough: FDA Committee Recommends Truvada for Approval

On Thursday May 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee (AVDAC) recommended the approval of an HIV antiretroviral drug indicated as a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), possibly the first ever prescribed prevention pill to reduce the risk of contracting the HIV virus in healthy people. The once-daily tenofovir/emtricitabine drug or Truvada by Gilead Sciences, Inc, is currently an approved popular treatment drug for infected individuals and already being used as an off-label preventative in uninfected individuals at risk for HIV. The committee voted in favor of Truvada usage as PrEP in vulnerable populations, voting 19-3 for usage by gay and bisexual men, 19-2 with one abstention for usage by uninfected partner of heterosexual couples in which one partner is HIV infected and the other is not, and finally 12-8 with two abstentions for usage by other people at risk of acquiring HIV through sexual activity. The FDA is expected to make a final decision by Friday June 15th. AIDS activists and medical experts consider approval of a drug-based prevention tool as another milestone in the three decade battle against the AIDS epidemic. Clinical studies yielded significant reductions of sexually acquired HIV-1 infections when using daily doses of Truvada and exhibited evidence of its safety. A three-year trial demonstrated a 44 percent reduction in the risk of infection in healthy gay and bisexual men when accompanied by condoms and counseling. Another study found a reduction of 75 percent in uninfected men or women in relationships with HIV-positive partners. Although the usage of Truvada as PrEP has shown success, strict adherence to the once daily regimen is absolutely necessary in order to be effective and avoid possible drug resistance. "The trouble is adherence, but I don't think it's our charge to judge whether people will take the medicine," said Dr. Tom Giordano of Baylor College of Medicine, who voted in favor of the drug. "I think our charge is to judge whether it works when it's taken and whether the risks outweigh the benefits." Several members of the AIDS community expressed stark disagreement and campaigned against the prevention pill. A prominent voice of opposition belongs to the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). AHF President Michael Weinstein condemns that approval of Truvada as a prevention pill and declared that it “will surely go down in the annals of FDA history as one of its most shameful moments." Critics fear that approval would promote the abandonment of condoms and other HIV prevention efforts. Some claim that the drug is too expensive (a month's supply is an estimated $1,200), and groups susceptible to HIV infection due to struggling socioeconomic status would be further marginalized because they cannot afford the drug. The data presented to the committee clearly refuted most of the claims and dire predictions made by speakers affiliated with AHF. AIDS United as well as almost 20 AIDS and health organizations, however, voice that Truvada would provide another option in the multipronged approach to prevent new HIV infections and should be used in combination with other HIV prevention strategies, like condoms, and routine HIV testing. “While no single tool will be enough to stop the spread of HIV, PrEP could be a vital part of a comprehensive, global strategy to end the AIDS epidemic,” stated Mitchell Warren, Executive Director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention. William McColl, Political Director of AIDS United, also believes that PrEP will be a welcome addition, “It’s not a panacea, not a blanket answer, but it is one more piece of the prevention puzzle.” AIDS United’s Interim President and CEO Victor Barnes and Vice President of Policy and Advocacy Ronald Johnson were present at the AVDAC briefing and AIDS United strongly urges FDA’s approval of Truvada as PrEP. "If we're going to reduce the more than 50,000 new HIV infections in this country each year, we need to increase the available options for people," said Johnson.

TGIF Living and More

Tumbling Uphill: Social Blogging Site Tumblr on the Rise

 

By Robb Nolan, AIDS.gov Technical and Video Coordinator

At AIDS.gov we continuously follow and research emerging social media tools for what may be the next big application. However, one of the big stories of 2011 wasn’t around an “emerging” tool, but one that had been with us since 2007. The Living and Affected Corporation has been a proponent of using all social media platforms current and emerging as possible sources of delivering prevention messages and linkages to care. This blog site will continue to serve our clients  and allies as LA Corp seeks to follow social/new media trends and innovations.

Tumblr is a social blogging site that that allows individual blog posts to be taggable, searchable, followed, “liked” (or “hearted”) and reblogged. Users can post short articles, messages, photos and links quickly and easily and tag their individual posts with hashtags for viewers to search. When searching Tumblr, posts from various blogs and authors are pulled into the results, allowing the topic to lead the conversation and not necessarily the individual author. This feature makes blogging social as each blog post is an entry point into a topical conversation. Viewers are led to new bloggers they may not have known about, simply because they have commented on a subject the user and blogger are mutually interested in. And it seems to be working. In 2011, Tumblr’s monthly pageviews increased from 2 million at year’s start, to 15 million by the year’s end, according to Mashable .

Part of this increase is due to the visual style and ease of use of the blogging platform. Archived posts of your favorite tumbling bloggers, such as Lady Gaga or even the President , are presented in a style similar to Pinterest, with past posts (text or photo) appearing in a visual collage for ease of searching. The site also supports up to 8 languages worldwide, which has helped it achieve more than 20 billion posts, 120 million monthly unique visitors and over 49 million individual blogs as of March 2012, according to Mashable .
And the HIV community is joining those numbers. Project K.I.S.S. of New York City is an HIV/AIDS service provider that uses Tumblr to spread the importance of counseling testing and referral services. Project K.I.S.S. provides free and confidential HIV testing, counseling, workshops, and peer outreach to youth ages 13-24 in New York City.

In anticipation of the 2012 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012), the Youth Programme for the conference joined Tumblr with their site YouthAIDS2012 . The Youth Programme works to strengthen the participation of young people and profile youth issues at the conference.
We recognized the building momentum of the site, which led us to begin listening to the conversation on Tumblr. So far, some of the opportunities we see are:

• Model transparency and extend the reach of information and activities around HIV/AIDS to a new social media audience.
• Promote and raise awareness about upcoming campaigns and events around HIV/AIDS (such as AIDS 2012 and the Facing AIDS initiative).
• Join and contribute to the HIV/AIDS forum of bloggers on Tumblr.

If you’re interested in Tumblr, go take a “tumble” yourself at Tumblr . After following the instructions to create a free account, try searching the hashtags #AIDS, #HIV, #LGBT and/or others. It’s a great resource to pull from various bloggers that may focus their blog on the subject you’re interested in or even just a single post. Tell us what you find and what you think of Tumblr in the comments section below. We’d love your feedback.

Living Affected and OUT Loud

Addressing Social Determinants of Health for Transgender People Through Policy Advocacy and the Affordable Care Act

The Center for Strengthening Youth Prevention Paradigms (SYPP Center) invites you to participate in a webinar with Masen Davis, Executive Director of Transgender Law Center. If you are unsure what implementation of the Affordable Care Act will mean for LGBT people, especially transgender communities, then this webinar is for you. Masen Davis will also provide a context for the discussion by explaining the link between social determinants of health, such as health care access and discrimination, and health outcomes for transgender people. This webinar is part of the “Third Thursdays Webinar Series,” which is designed for HIV prevention providers serving youth, particularly young gay men and transgender youth of color. After this webinar, you will be able to: Recognize the prevalence and impact of discrimination on transgender communities Describe linkages between discrimination and health for transgender people Identify opportunities to improve the health of LGBT youth and adults through implementation of the Affordable Care Act Housed at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, SYPP Center provides capacity building assistance (CBA) services to communities seeking to prevent HIV/AIDS among youth, with an emphasis on young gay men and transgender youth of color. SYPP Center offers a framework for communities to create sustainable structural changes and build healthy community coalitions that respond to local needs.