Highlights from the Australasian HIV&AIDS Conference 2022

Mon 29 August — Thu 1 September 2022

The complete program for the joint virtual Australasian Sexual Health and HIV&AIDS Conference #HIVAIDS2022 & #SH2022, held at the Sunshine Coast Convention Centre, Queensland, has a live and on-demand full program. NAPWHA has compiled a selective list of program highlights that may be of interest for our communities below.

Community welcome: Robert Mitchell, Past-NAPWHA President

NAPWHA Rapportage by Daniel Reeders

Couldn’t make the conference? NAPWHA Learning Officer, Daniel Reeders, provided an excellent coverage and rapportage of the 4-day conference program via the NAPWHA Twitter feed.

Satellite Session: Going beyond viral suppression

Poster #312 Hidden in Plain Sight? Creating a Culturally-Appropriate Peer Navigation Model to Facilitate Engagement with PLHIV from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds

Poster #312: Hidden in Plain Sight? Creating a Culturally-Appropriate Peer Navigation Model to Facilitate Engagement with People Living with HIV from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds

Background:  Positive Life NSW (PLNSW) adapted a peer navigation model to build capacity of CALD PLHIV utilising Peer Navigators to role-model and share their lived experiences, improving the health, quality of life outcomes and increasing health literacy and capacity of CALD PLHIV to self-advocate. Engaging Peer Navigators from the CALD community has provided a deeper understanding of culture and remains agile yet sensitive to the developing needs of this priority population. CALD Community Peer Navigators use a range of different tools and modes of communication to address social isolation, stigma / discrimination, system navigation, peer support and program follow-up..

This poster was presented at the Joint HIV&AIDS & Sexual Health Conference 2022.  See also the abstract submitted

Poster #56: Lessons From The Archive: Queer Indonesia Archive

Poster #56: Lessons From The Archive: Queer Indonesia Archive

Background:  In Indonesia the lived experiences and narratives of queer people are being challenged, erased, and delegitimized in the national collective memory. For the lasttwo years the Queer Indonesia Archive (QIA) – a volunteer run, Indonesia based digital archiving project – has been building a digital collection reflecting the histories of queer communities. QIA utilises a process of community consultation, material collection and exhibition as it’s community archive process. Through this method the archive has built an accessible collection of digital objects to promote cross generational engagement, build community capacity and ensure a community collective memory of the HIV response.

This poster was presented at the Joint HIV&AIDS & Sexual Health Conference 2022.  See also the abstract submitted

Poster #126: GIPA Audit – Assessing the National Association of People Living with HIV Australia’s engagement with people living with HIV

Poster #126:  GIPA Audit – Assessing the National Association of People Living with HIV Australia’s engagement with people living with HIV

Background:  The National Association of People Living with HIV Australia (NAPWHA) relies upon its membership and the body positive to understand the priorities for people living with HIV (PLHIV) across Australia. As the national peak organisation representing PLHIV, they commissioned an independent assessment of their engagement with positive people, including 17 priority populations.

This poster was presented at the Joint HIV&AIDS & Sexual Health Conference 2022.  See also the abstract submitted

Poster #269:  Re-imagining the role of the NAPWHA Treatment Outreach Network

Poster #269: Re-imagining the role of the NAPWHA Treatment Outreach Network

Background:  NAPWHA’s Treatment Officer Network (TON) has operated for over twenty years. During that time the treatments landscape has changed fundamentally, as treatments have become simpler and easier to take, resulting in less demand from clients for treatment advice and support.

This poster was presented at the Joint HIV&AIDS & Sexual Health Conference 2022.  See also the abstract submitted

Poster #293:  Living with HIV and injecting drugs – A health literacy community consultation

Poster #293:  Living with HIV and injecting drugs – A health literacy community consultation

Background: A pioneering community network has been developed for Asian people living with HIV under the NAPWHA Health Literacy Framework project. The Positive Asian Network Australia (PANA) was established as a peer-led community mobilisation initiative, formed by HIV peers and the project Pilot Lead, Brent Clifton.

This poster was presented at the Joint HIV&AIDS & Sexual Health Conference 2022.

Poster #296:  Beyond the 4th 90 – The Australian Community Accord on Quality of Life for people with HIV

Poster #296:  Beyond the 4th 90 The Australian Community Accord on Quality of Life for people with HIV

Background: With funding from ViiV Healthcare, NAPWHA delivered an interactive webinar series that invited participants (n=389) to share insights and experiences. Findings informed an Australian Community Accord on Quality of Life for People Living with HIV:  A person-centred framework for eliciting and addressing the drivers of self-perceived quality of life. Development of the Accord and the availability of the PozQOL measure put Australiain position to lead in the global push to recognise good quality of life as a vital goal for national and global strategies that aim to reduce both the incidence and impact of HIV.

This poster was presented at the Joint HIV&AIDS & Sexual Health Conference 2022.

Poster #301:  Mobilising community among heterosexual men living with HIV in Australia

Poster #301:  Mobilising community among heterosexual men living with HIV in Australia

Background: HIV notifications among heterosexual men have been increasing over the past decade, particularly among Australian-born males (Kirby, 2018). The NAPWHA Health Literacy Framework project established HetMAN a network of heterosexual men to articulate their health literacy needs across the HIV care continuum..

This poster was presented at the Joint HIV&AIDS & Sexual Health Conference 2022.

Poster #302:  Developing the Health Literacy Framework – The central role of Community Advocates

Poster #302:  Developing the Health Literacy Framework – The central role of Community Advocates

Background: The Health Literacy Framework project is a three-year initiative (2019-21) which aimed to improve HIV-related health literacy at the individual, community, organisational, sectoral, health system, and societal levels. It focused on engaging diverse cohorts of PLHIV who have not benefited equally from recent successes across the HIV care continuum. These included positive women, heterosexual men, people from Asian and Latin American backgrounds, and people who inject drugs.

This poster was presented at the Joint HIV&AIDS & Sexual Health Conference 2022.

Poster #303:  A systems approach to understanding the needs of Asian-born men living with HIV in Australia

Poster #303:  A systems approach to understanding the needs of Asian-born men living with HIV in Australia

Background: A pioneering community network has been developed for Asian people living with HIV under the NAPWHA Health Literacy Framework project. The Positive Asian Network Australia (PANA) was established as a peer-led community mobilisation initiative, formed by HIV peers and the project’s Community Advocate, Jimmy Yu-Hsiang Chen.

This poster was presented at the Joint HIV&AIDS & Sexual Health Conference 2022.