Teesside Positive Action: caring for people living with HIV/AIDS on Teesside, England.

Michael Kay (1), Christine Dodd (2)
(1)Volunteer Development Manager; (2) Executive Committee Secretary
(1)(2) Teesside Positive Action, Middlesbrough, England

Key words: HIV, community, care, Teesside

Teesside Positive Action (formerly Cleveland AIDS Support) is a registered charity funded by the National Health Service. It was formed in 1990 to provide practical and emotional support) to those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS within the Tees area. The development of new drug therapies to control HIV has enabled positive people to have a better quality of life. Over the years, TPA has adapted its services to meet the changing needs of the HIV positive community and, developed further services to help raise awareness of HIV within Teesside. This is in the form of training and educational sessions and through promotional activities in local venues. Teesside Positive Action employs four key workers; although, it is primarily a volunteer-led organisation. Volunteers from all sides of the community donate their time and skills to provide a wide range of services. These include:-

• Focus in Advocacy work as opposed to direct care provision, a service that has been relied upon heavily by the increasing number of clients from overseas who reside in this area.
• Training and Education Programmes have been developed to help educate all sectors of the community of the risks of HIV. One of the most successful of these projects has been the work carried out within the local schools where TPA staff and volunteers have provided Educational Sessions on HIV, which incorporates sexual health information and the risks involved with injecting-drug use.
• Over the past year (2002/03), TPA has also carried out activities within some local prison units, providing education and support to inmates and staff, and we are currently in the process of developing prison-training packages on blood bourne viruses as part of a project funded by Glaxo Smith Kline pharmaceutical company.
• Staff and volunteers organise outreach events, to distribute condoms, provide HIV information and give advice to the public via various venues, including local universities, shopping centres, local pubs and clubs, often in conjunction with MESMAC Northeast.
• TPA also provides a staff operated twenty-four hour helpline. This provides sexual health advice and information and other services that are available within our region.

The services offered by Teesside Positive Action, could not be provided to such a high standard without the help and support of other agencies, which offer their time and expertise. These organisations include the local Health Services, and various voluntary and statutory organisations. As we look towards to the future, we hope to extend our educational programme to reach younger people, giving them relevant information in a format that they can understand. There are also plans to expand some of our current services to include support for those infected by the hepatitis viruses.
The success of TPA has been due to the dedication and commitment of volunteers and paid employees who have always put people first. There is still a lot to do, and we hope to continue to provide quality care to our clients and all those who need our help.

©2001 Sexual Health Matters. Published Quarterly by Express Print Works, Middlesbrough, UK
ISSN 1469-7556
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