Call Out for People Living with HIV in Ireland
7th May 2021
Are you interested in sharing your story to help us to educate others and eliminate Stigma?
Background
We are currently developing ‘pre-recorded’ online learning on HIV prevention and HIV-related stigma so more people can access this vital education. This education is aimed at people working in key services that may be accessed by people living with HIV – such as health services, youth services, education services, and community services.
To effectively educate about HIV-related stigma in Ireland, we are seeking authentic stories and experiences from people living with HIV in Ireland. Real stories, and real feelings, help learners to connect, empathise and feel motivated to improve their practice and services.
Collecting Stories: what does it involve?
We want to speak to at least five people about your experiences, and we encourage a diverse range of voices including people from cities, from rural Ireland, and from different parts of the world but now living in Ireland.
If you are willing to be one of these people, we will ask you to share with us experiences from your life with HIV. For example, a good news story about times you have felt accepted, safe and supported; a not so good story about times where you felt stigmatised by another person or service (by accident or on purpose).
I’m interested in supporting this call and I want to share my story. What next?
If you are interested, we are grateful that you will gift your time and story to help us educate others.
- Anyone interested should send an email to sue.carter@hivireland.ie
- Sue will then contact you to have a quick chat, and she will then connect you with our development partners in Quality Matters (Aoife and Philip).
- Aoife or Philip will arrange to have a call with you to discuss and agree your preferred option to share your story. Stories will be collected by audio only (no video).
- This will happen sometime during the month of May 2021.
Options for storytelling and collection include:
- Telling your story to our researcher, who will write it down, and then have an actor record it.
or
- Record your story (audio only – no video) using your own voice.
Safety and Confidentiality
It’s important for you to know:
- NOBODY WILL KNOW who you are from listening to your story (unless you tell them yourself!) – this is completely confidential. If you use your own voice, only people who are very familiar with you who happen to undertake the online learning might recognise you. You can always choose to have another person tell your story.
- You can CHANGE YOUR MIND – you might decide you are happy to do it, but then change your mind either before, during or after the call to share your stories. As long as we know before the training is launched (we’ll give you a date) you can withdraw your stories at any time.
Thanks for reading this and considering sharing your story.
If you’re interested please send an email to sue.carter@hivireland.ie