PLHIV voices on digital media platforms: utilising the internet to

more effectively disseminate knowledge about the realities of living

with HIV, reduce stigma and stereotyping.

Max Niggl. Positive Speakers Bureau Coordinator. PLWHA Victoria Inc.

Issue:• PLWHA Victoria wanted to develop an innovative,

enduring record of Australian PLHIV stories utilising creative digital media platforms that are internet accessible with three aims:

• Create an increased demand for PLHIV speakers to share their stories.

• Facilitate PLHIV’s decision to publicly disclose after seeing other PLHIV stories.

• To reduce HIV stigma and discrimination in the broader community when face to face communication with PLHIV is unavailable.

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Description:

Train speakers to deliver effective, professional presentations for digital media communication platforms.Develop innovative digital media campaigns for PLHIV speakers to change community and behavioural attitudes towards HIV. PLHIV to play an increasingly significant role in educating the global community and their peers in accordance with the 2011 United Nations efforts to eliminate HIV. (unaids.org)

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Capacity building

• Media training workshops• Creative writing 6 week workshop• Speakers briefing • Interviewers briefing• Cameraman briefing

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Key insights and messages

Speakers were asked to do the following:

1: Think of your own HIV positive story 

2: What is the key insight you have to share? 

3: Make a quick 'map' with your insight and key, concise, clear points of your story reinforcing the insight. Trim away any details that are unnecessary to your message. 

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HIV education

• PLHIV speakers play a significant role in HIV education.

• PLHIV play a significant role in safer sex education.

• PLHIV speaker play a significant role in STI education

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YouTube

http://bit.ly/JWOel1

x

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HIV Stigma

Definition:

Prejudice and discrimination directed at people living with HIV &AIDS (PLHIV), and the groups and communities that they are associated with. It can result in people living with HIV & AIDS being rejected from their community, shunned, discriminated against or even physically hurt.

• Source: www.avert.org

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Facebook campaign

Let’s stop the stigma commenced

March 2011

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Facebook – Lets stop the stigma campaign

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Darren’s quote

"The 'Changing Voices' DVD project was a great opportunity for me to put a younger face of the HIV experience out into the wider community. By sharing a bit of my story I hoped that I would provide something that all people, but especially younger people, can relate to. And by putting a face to my story they might better understand that HIV can happen to anyone. Being part of 'Changing Voices'  was an empowering process that helped galvanise me to continue developing as a Positive Speaker and meet the challenge of educating many audiences, be they in schools, health settings or other community forums."

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Lessons learned:

• Co-launching the digitalised stories with the organisation’s new website increased unique website visits.

• A series of digitalised PLHIV interviews increased the social media presence on the organisation’s website.

• Digital stories are now used by speakers during ‘live’ presentations.

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Lessons learned – cont.

• Speakers have greater confidence and pride in presenting their DVD and communicating with audiences whose response is overwhelmingly positive.

• A quantifiable increase in trainee speaker applications and speaking engagement requests from the website.

• 600 DVDs distributed in Australia and overseas.PLWHA VICTORIA. INFORMATION, ADVICE, ADVOCACY, SUPPORT & REPRESENTATION

Chief Medical Officer

“Seeing real people talk about their own experiences is a very effective way of increasing understanding and empathy in the community in a way that a thousand brochures or websites could not.

It is important that we don’t hide HIV away in the shadows, but talk about it openly not just in infected and affected communities but in the broader community as well.

Reducing stigma and discrimination is important. It makes communication and negotiation around safer sex easier if partners can communicate openly without fear of negative reaction”.

Dr John Carnie officially launching the DVD. 31/3/2010

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Email feedback

• 22/09/2010• To David and All the team at 'People Living With

HIV/AIDS VIC'.Thank You for the DVD's.The DVD's are now in the; Wagga City Library, Wagga CSU campus and in the Greater Southern Area Health Service Officers Hands, ready to be handed out at Wagga's World Aids Day Display. Many thanks and best wishes. Jaden Matto

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Recommendations:

• Recruit and train speakers to deliver key HIV prevention and safer sex messages to community and peers via the internet and digital media.

• Increase the capacity of presentations a speaker can physically do by utilising website based digital and social media.

• Encourage more PLHIV speakers to be public about their status on the internet.

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Recommendations:

• Provide greater internet accessibility to allow greater empowerment of PLHIV globally.

• Use digitalised PLHIV narratives in a variety of ways using mobile phone cameras to state of the art recording studios.

• Adapt to resource poor and remote settings.

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Summary: PLHIV speakers on global digital media• Passionate and skilled speakers• Capacity building & social marketing

principles• PLHIV personal & professional

development• Building mutual understanding that PLHIV

are just like you and I

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Conclusion

Max Niggl

www.plwhavictoria.org.au

speakersbureau@plwhavictoria.org.au

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