Women’s Wellness, Information & Support Day

for women living with HIV

Please join Pozhet and ACON’s Women and Families Project for a relaxed day of information and peer support. Click the image to see all the details, (it will open in a new window).

POZHET RETREAT

Venue: Berry Sport and Recreation Centre
Date: Friday evening 24th until Sunday 26th February, 2012

Fun & challenging group activities
An opportunity to meet
Group discussions support & share stories with your peers
Information & support
2 nights accommodation & meals provided
Partners, family & friends are welcome to apply

The application form can be downloaded here.
View the flyer here.

To find out more and to apply call Pozhet on 02 93950444 or frecall 1800 812 404 or email Susan at pozhet@pozhet.org.au. Closing date for applications is 23rd January, 2012

African Women's Day

African BBQ Sat 29 October 2011

Ring Susan on Freecall 1800 812 404 or email pozhet@pozhet.org.au for more information
These groups are held on the first Friday of each month.

PrEP - Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis

AFAO (Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations) has released a breifing paper on a trial of PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis). For the article, click on this link to view the paper "Results of the iPrEx Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis trial"

HIV Futures 7 survey
Making positive lives count

The HIV Futures survey is about all aspects of living with HIV. It lets community organisations, services for PLHIV, doctors and government know what it’s really like to be HIV positive. The survey is anonymous and you can take your time to complete it. Make sure your experience counts. Let us know what HIV is like for you.

Complete the survey online at:
www.hivfutures.org.au
by January 15th, 2012

If you would prefer a paper copy of the survey, please contact us (toll-free on 1800 064 398 or by email at hivfutures@latrobe.edu.au) or ask your local AIDS organisation or doctor for a copy.

HIV Futures 6

A report from the HIV Futures Six survey detailing the experiences of women living with HIV/AIDS specifically is now available.

The key findings of this brief report include:

Women living with HIV/AIDS report a high degree of satisfaction with their health, with almost three quarters of women living with HIV/AIDS (71.1%) rating their health as good or excellent. However, a lower proportion of women (56.8%) rate their general well-being as good or excellent.
Mental health issues remain an area of concern for women living with HIV/AIDS, with 41.9% of women having been diagnosed with a mental health condition (predominantly depression) and a high proportion of women taking medication for depression and anxiety.
Women living with HIV/AIDS continue to experience a high degree of difficulty meeting the costs of daily living with 49.6% of women living below the poverty line. Consistent with this finding, women were more likely than men living with HIV/AIDS to use the financial assistance services provided by HIV/AIDS organisations.

The report can be downloaded from the HIV Futures website

R Koelmeyer, K McDonald, M Pitts and J Grierson (2010). HIV Futures 6: Making Positive Women’s Lives Count, Monograph Series Number 77, The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.

other organisations

The Western Suburbs Haven Inc.

The Western Suburbs Haven Inc is a registered charity caring for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Greater West of Sydney. It exists to support, empower and care for people living with HIV/AIDS, their partners, families and carers. thewesternsuburbshaven.com.au

HIV Stigma Audit

Introducing the HIV Stigma Audit
A research project to help end HIV stigma in Australia

The stigma of HIV is something we can live without and with your help we can make a start

The HIV Stigma Audit is a new research project from NAPWA and the National Centre in HIV Social Research at the University of New South Wales. The audit is being conducted by a web-based survey.
We would like to hear from all sorts of people with HIV about their experiences. If you are HIV positive and living in Australia you are welcome to complete the survey.

The survey only takes about 20 mins to complete, and is open to all HIV-positive people over the age of 18 living in Australia. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us understand HIV stigma and start to do something about ending it.

If you are HIV-positive, over 18 and living in Australia, please consider participating in this valuable research. For more information about the Stigma Audit, please visit www.hivstigma.net.au

No More Butts

Quit smoking... for people with HIV

Social Club

The social club is a social peer support group set up and run by our own members, who meet regularly on the first Friday of every month with some weekend events planned as well . We aim to provide a safe and supportive environment where we can meet together socially around an organised event or activity. If you would like to join our mailing list, please email us at phsocialclub@gmail.com and we will ensure you are kept up to date with all our planned activities.
Read All About It Here

Social Club Events, News and Updates Click to view

Social Club Feedback Click to view

A series of factsheets for women about HIV

Produced by Family Planning NSW in partnership with MHAHS, ACON and the Heterosexual HIV/AIDS Service (HHAS)

View a list of the factsheets on the resources page

community forum

Pozhet now has its own online community forum which is open to all HIV positive people, partners, family and friends

. . . enter the forum . . . . . . . more information

HHAS

Heterosexual HIV/AIDS Service (HHAS) is an organisation providing information, support and advocacy to people affected by HIV/Aids in New South Wales,Australia, and is solely funded by NSW Department of Health through the Sydney South West Area Health Service. (SSWAHS) more

Our 2008-2012 Strategic Plan is available for viewing. Click to view

The Straight Forward Wellness Network

Heterosexual HIV/AIDS Service (HHAS) works to promote the health and wellbeing of positive heterosexual men and women, their partners and family members across NSW through health promotion, client care and support, work force development and training, advocacy and research. A priority area for the Heterosexual HIV/AIDS Service is partnership and collaboration, and as part of the 'Straight Forward Wellness Project ', Heterosexual HIV/AIDS Service (HHAS) has established a network to work together to ensure that people living heterosexually with HIV have improved access to the services in NSW.

The developments of The Straight Forward Wellness Network has occurred in phases, with initial network meetings with metropolitan service providers, and then through consultation with regional and rural partners grow to encompass a geographically broader range of services.

Membership of the Straight Forward Wellness Interagency are drawn from areas of expertise in HIV/AIDS, adult and peer education, relevant areas of health and program development areas.

The network meets quarterly and aims to:

Ensure the issues of people living heterosexually with HIV, their partners, carers and family in NSW are articulated amongst HIV service providers
Ensure individual services develop strategies to address the stigma and discrimination experienced by people living heterosexually with HIV their partners, carers and family.
Identification of relevant focus areas and formation of working groups from within and outside of the networks membership to develop projects to address areas of need.
Draw from areas of expertise in HIV/AIDS, adult and peer education, relevant areas of health and program development to ensure relevance of programs for people living heterosexually with HIV in NSW.
Increase awareness about heterosexual HIV among the general community and within specific (and/or at risk) populations.

If you would like further information on the Straight Forward Wellness Network, please contact Kate at Pozhet (kate.reakes@sswahs.nsw.gov.au)