Larry Lehman Receives John Kappers AIDS Community Service ...

Peer Counseling
Perspectives
Mary Lynn
Hemphill, LMSW
——— mlhemphill@aidssurvivalproject.org
AIDS Survival Project is fifteen years old.
In that time, treatment of HIV has changed
dramatically, the political climate has
shifted several times and the “face of AIDS” has
become more often that of a person of color. At
ASP, the Treatment Resource Center has grown
from a single file cabinet to an HIV-focused library
containing over 450 volumes, plus Internet
access. Operation Survive! has evolved into
THRIVE! Weekend. Peer counselors routinely
handle calls
from people
on disability
who are trying
to figure out
how to go
back to work
after an AIDS
diagnosis instead
of calls
requesting referrals
to hospice
care. Through all the changes, ASP has
maintained this mission:
We are diverse people living with HIV,
united to promote self-empowerment and enhanced
quality of life for HIV-affected individuals
through advocacy, education, peer support
and treatment activism.
Responsiveness to medical and social
change has been timely because it has come directly
from the people whose lives and needs
were changing. Barriers to using services remain
almost nonexistent. People from all walks of life
learn to become expert partners in managing their
health. The philosophy that has been so effective
in allowing this agency to remain relevant,
powerful and responsive is found in a manifesto
drafted in 1983 called the Denver Principles. The
Denver Principles were written by a group of
AIDS activists early in the epidemic, at a time
when little was known about HIV infection and
physicians and researchers were not used to working
with “patients” who demanded to be true
partners in their medical care.
In the struggle to fight discrimination and
marginalization, the Denver Principles are still a
guiding force. They inform what ASP does in
every aspect of the organization, every program
and every advocacy effort. They feel no less radical
today than they did twenty years ago, which
speaks to the unique social stigma that still inhibits
testing, prevention, disclosure and access
to treatment. On this fifteenth anniversary of
ASP, adequate funding for HIV/AIDS care and
prevention continues to be in jeopardy and HIV
names reporting in Georgia is proposed to take
effect on January 1, 2004. It’s worth being reminded
of the principles that guided the people
who founded AIDS Survival Project.
6
The Denver Principles
Recommendations for All People
We recommend that all people:
1. Support us in our struggle against those who
would fire us from our jobs, evict us from
our homes, refuse to touch us or separate us
from our loved ones, our community or our
peers, since available evidence does not
support the view that AIDS can be spread
by casual, social contact. (Remember that
HIV and the first proof that AIDS was an
infectious disease would not be discovered
for two more years.)
2. Not scapegoat people with AIDS, blame us
for the epidemic or generalize about our lifestyles.
We recommend that people with AIDS:
1. Form caucuses to choose their own representatives,
to deal with the media, to choose
their own agenda and to plan their own strategies.
2. Be involved at every level of decision-making
and specifically serve on the boards of
directors of provider organizations.
3. Be involved in all AIDS forums with equal
credibility as other participants, to share
The Foundation
their own experiences and knowledge.
4. Substitute low-risk sexual behaviors for
those that could endanger themselves or
their partners. We feel that people with
AIDS have an ethical responsibility to inform
their potential sexual partners of their
health status.
Rights of People with AIDS
People with AIDS have the right:
1. To as full and satisfying sexual and emotional
lives as anyone else.
2. To quality medical treatment and quality social
service provision without discrimination
of any form based on sexual orientation,
gender, diagnosis, economic status or
race.
3. To full explanations of all medical procedures
and risks, to choose or refuse their
treatment modalities, to refuse to participate
in research without jeopardizing their treatment
and to make informed decisions about
their lives.
4. To privacy, confidentiality of medical
records, to human respect, and to choose
whom their significant others are.
5. To die and to LIVE in dignity.
Come learn the basics of Peer Counseling at AIDS Survival Project’s
Counseling Skills-Building Training
We will be covering the following topics:
• Verbal and nonverbal communication
• Problem-solving
• Information and referral techniques
• Assessing callers’ needs
• Active listening skills
• And more!
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, November 22
at 139 Ralph McGill Boulevard
Continental breakfast and lunch will be served
No charge, but participants must preregister.
Registration deadline is November 20
Please call (404) 874-7926 and sign up to attend.
Funding for this program is provided by the Ryan White CARE ACT Title I under the
guidance of the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County’s AIDS Grants Program
SURVIVAL NEWS