Ending the HIV Epidemic by Being the Change You Seek

This webinar provides participants with an overview of HIV criminalization laws and data, along with strategies for combating HIV stigma and advocating for decriminalization.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, you will be able to:

  • Define HIV criminalization and identify the data that is most alarming.
  • Explain five reasons why criminalization is a problem.
  • Describe the nuances of strategy vs. implementation in legislative success.

About the Speaker:

Living with Black Girl Magic, HIV, and chronic optimism, Kamaria Laffrey serves nationally as a speaker, advocate, and Co-Managing Director for HIV policy reform with The SERO Project, and a spokesperson for treatment adherence and self-care campaign Positively Fearless with Janssen. Her local work extends to rural and underserved areas, as she serves on the FL Dept. of Health Community HIV Advisory Group and is a member of the West Central FL Ryan White Care Council. She also co-leads the FL HIV Justice Coalition to modernize laws that criminalize Floridians for their HIV status. In these roles, Kamaria believes that when she represents PLHIV she is lifting Black women living with HIV, their presence is visible, and their power is not denied.

Please note that continuing education credits are not available for this session.

Winter Wellness: Reimaging Mental Health

Healthcare providers have continued to experience worsening mental health symptoms, which can be exacerbated during the holiday season. This offering reimagines mental health as an essential component of whole-body wellness, identifies coping strategies to re-set, refocus and refresh, and provides an understanding of people-centered resources.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Examine the importance of mental health in expanding providers’ overall health and quality of life
  2. Explore communication tools, self-care strategies, and coping techniques to counter holiday stressors
  3. Identify community and workplace resources to reduce stress, improve mental health, and provide healthy options for self-care.

Faculty:
Ebony Johnson, A Drop of Prevention

HIV 101

This presentation covers the myths and facts about HIV and AIDS in Washington, DC and serves as an introduction to those new to the topic.

Learning Objectives: 

  1. Define HIV and AIDS
  2. Describe how HIV affects the body
  3. Identify the different types of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV
  4. Describe the prevalence of HIV in the U.S. and in DC specifically among specific subpopulations
  5. List the routes by which HIV can and cannot be transmitted
  6. Define harm reduction techniques to reduce the risk of HIV transmission
  7. List the three types of HIV tests and how they are used

Faculty:
Corey Howell, CHES®

TargetHIV Ryan White Library

TargetHIV maintains these topical collections of training and implementation tools for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

Guidance on Completing the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Services Report (RSR)

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Services Report (RSR) is a client-level data reporting requirement that monitors the characteristics of Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Parts recipients, providers, and clients served. All Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Parts A-D-funded recipients and their contracted service providers (subrecipients) are required to report client-level data annually to the HIV/AIDS Bureau through the RSR.

HRSA Ryan White Program Grants

The HRSA Ryan White Program funds grants to cities, states, counties, and community-based groups to provide HIV care and treatment.

Understanding Implicit Bias in Healthcare

Implicit biases involve associations outside conscious awareness that can lead to negative, inaccurate, or unfair evaluations of a person on the basis of identity or social status. It is important for healthcare professionals to understand implicit bias because it can influence providers’ assessments of and behavior towards their clients. Unchecked implicit biases based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, and socioeconomic status can contribute to poorer health outcomes among marginalized groups of people.

This on-demand training will distinguish between explicit and implicit bias and discuss how to identify and change these biases in yourself and your colleagues.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, you will be able to:

  • Explain the difference between implicit/unconscious and explicit bias.
  • Identify at least five types of bias present in healthcare.
  • Describe the effects of unconscious bias on everyday interactions with patients, students, colleagues, and team members. 
  • Describe how personal unconscious biases impact perceptions of gender, race/ethnicity, and/or cultural attributes in healthcare.
  • Provide strategies to correct or eliminate personal unconscious biases in daily interactions.

Sexual Health Resources for Clients who Engage in Sex Work

This resource was created in an effort to reduce harm, facilitate safe sex practices and eradicate stigma in relation to sex and sex work. This toolkit has no political affiliation and does not serve as a political endorsement of any stance surrounding the nature of sex work.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this activity, learners will be able to:

  • Understand the importance of knowing their status and be empowered to make healthy decisions
  • Utilize harm reduction in both sexual engagement and substance usage
  • Give an overview of the state of STDs, STIs and HIV in DC, along with susceptibility
  • Identify the importance of PrEP and PEP usage for those who are sexually active
  • Break down stigma in relation to both sex and sex work
  • Describe strategies for maintaining physical, mental, and sexual health in spite of legal barriers

Effective Strategies for Affirming and Engaging Transgender Clients

The purpose of this toolkit is to use an approach to health care delivery in which organizations, programs, and providers recognize, validate, and support the identity stated or expressed by the individuals served.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Apply patient-centered treatment strategies to provide holistic care for all clients, including mental health and outreach services.
  2. Facilitate safer and affirming strategies to engage and support Transgender communities.
  3. Outline marketing and outreach strategies to increase engagement and retention in care in Transgender individuals.
  4. Utilize trauma-informed approaches in care and delivery of services.
  5. Outline harm reduction practices and strategies specific to the needs of the DC EMA Transgender community.