Educator’s Conference 2008

Positive Lives:Resilience and Re-engagement

David Menadue

NAPWA

“Getting on With It Again”:

“I got to my late fifties and felt that HIV took away some of the best years of my life. We didn’t live our lives in the ways that we would have lived them and made the decisions that we would have done, had we known we were going to live for fifteen years rather than two. Between the ages of forty-two and sixty should have been the time when I was getting the best out of my life. I feel sometimes that has been stolen from me.” Nigel

“Stuck in Limbo”

“ I’m only just starting to clamber out of that scene. I was pensioned off in 1995 so it’s taken a decade to start being a “normal”, “average” citizen again. People still struggle with welfare dependence. We have missed the crux of rebuilding people’s lives. That’s what got lost and a lot of people are stuck in limbo. They’re stuck because they’ve got financial constraints. They’re stuck because their financial constraints bring a smaller world to them, and they’re most likely mixing in a smaller crowd that’s experiencing the same things.” Michael

“Simple Pleasures” workshops

Purpose:• Support the sharing of personal strategies

and perspectives on living longer with HIV• Act as a catalyst to network people living

longer with HIV.• Link participants into existing social

networks and ongoing support andhealth-care systems.

• Support participants.

HIV Balance campaign

Recreational drugs

Regular drug use had been taking a toll on his relationship. ‘My partner of many years, we were worst enemies. It was like two dogs tied to the one chain. It was a period of testing the boundaries of being diagnosed HIV positive. But only from hindsight realising I didn’t accept the diagnosis.’ Scott

Health Promotion and Education Network

Network of positive educators from around the country: 4 plwha organisations, 3 AIDS Councils

National coordination, sharing ideas,approaches and resources

Capacity building and training

Reference Group for NAPWA representatives on Education Manager’s Forum and Strategic Advisory Committee on Education

Working with ANET to look at gaps in programs and resources for health promotion for positive people.

Thanks

Kathy Triffit

Positive Life NSW

Bobby Goldsmith Foundation

Daniel Reeders, PLWHA Victoria

Phillip Keen, AFAO

Russell Westacott, ACON

Kate Damaere, NAPWA

NAPWA HPEN members