HIV Stigma – Naming and Owning the Problem - ICRW

3. CHANGING OUR TREATMENT OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV (Paired Role Play): The
exercise below is designed for RMPs. You should adapt it for the other health workers.
Tell participants, “We are now going to practice how to change the way we relate to people
living with HIV and AIDS.”
Step 1 (Clinic Situation): We are first going to imagine that a man who suspects he has HIV
comes to get help at your clinic. Everyone stand up and find a partner. A is the RMP, B is the
client. In each pair agree on who is A and who is B. (Wait until they decide.) The situation you will
play is: B arrives at A’s clinic and asks A to help him – B has been having lots of diarrhea. PLAY!
Let the plays run for three minutes. Then shout “Stop!” and invite one pair to show their play to
the group. At the end lead the following discussion:
a) Ask the group, What happened? How did the RMP deal with the client?
b) Ask the client, How did this approach make you feel?
c) Ask the group, What other approach might be used to make him feel better?
Sample Responses:
a) What happened? How did the RMP deal with the client?
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He kept at a distance, showing his fear of the patient.
He was very cold and refused to touch the patient.
b) Client – How did this approach make you feel?
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I felt he was shunning me. I felt very bad and demoralized and wanted to leave.
c) What other approach might be used to make the client feel better?
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Welcome the client with a warm smile and kind words.
Sit closer to the client and ask him questions about his health.
Ask questions to get him talking.
Use the suggested approaches (Question C) as the basis for a new role play, building on the first
one. Ask the person who suggests the improved approach to take over the role of RMP, while the
original person continues to play the role of the client. Then play the scene again, and afterwards
debrief how it went – Did the new approach work? How did it make the client feel? What made
the difference?
Continue this process until the group has agreed on a good strategy to respond positively to the
client.
Step 2 (Family Situation): If there is enough time, try out the following situation, using the same
pairs as in Step 1: We are now going to look at a new situation, where a woman comes to ask the
RMP to visit her sick husband, who is thin and has a high fever. Change the roles. The person who
was the RMP now becomes the woman. The other partner plays the RMP. Now play out the new
situation. PLAY!
After three minutes shout “Stop!” and ask one pair to show their play to the group. Debrief and
continue to use role play and discussion to work out approaches to deal with this new situation.
Chapter A: HIV Stigma – Naming and Owning the Problem n 41