National Minority AIDS Council Building Healthier Communities
Building Leadership in Communities of Color to Address HIV/AIDS
2004-2009 HIV/AIDS Stigma Program
Breaking Barriers – One at a Time
As the National Minority AIDS Council’s (NMAC) HIV/AID Stigma Program draws to a close, the agency will feature a “Lessons Learned” poster presentation at the 2008 United States Conference on AIDS. During its run, the program has experienced success with increased program attendance and highly regarded participant reviews of the training sessions, which have led to increased requests, nationwide, from CBO’s for additional training.
Stigma Program Manager, Melanie Graham, states, "In retrospect, it is the hope that the Stigma Program will allow communities to initiate conversations around the topics that are not typically had; Prevent avoidance to particular sub-groups; Acknowledge the people who are most stigmatized; and finally, Allow the empowerment and safety of members of the community to get tested and access care."
The National Minority AIDS Council’s (NMAC) HIV/AIDS Stigma Program is a cooperative agreement with the Health Resources and Service Administration‘s (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau. The Stigma Program will conclude it programming on August 31, 2008. (See: The Capacity Builder, 2009.Vol.3. The National Minority AIDS Council.)
“Since its inception, the program has addressed ways in which to address the barriers of accessing HIV/AIDS care as it relates to stigma.”
She goes on to state, “If stigma is not acknowledged, it will continue to prohibit treatment and deter individuals, especially hard to reach communities, from getting tested and accessing care.” Melanie hopes that the Stigma Program has identified areas where stigma programming can be further enhanced by Community-based Organizations, from matters of engaging special topics to increased stigma program development.
Resources
Evaluation Report
Focus Group Reports for the following cities
Charlotte, North Carolina
Denver, Colorado
Des Moines, Iowa
Stigma Poster
Stigma articles
Stigma Curriculum
Program Description
HIV/AIDS Stigma and to Access Care
HIV/AIDS Stigma and to Access Care: Women of Color
Training-of-Trainers: HIV/AIDS Stigma and to Access Care
Stigma Program Manage
Contact Information:
Melanie Graham, MSW
The National Minority AIDS Council
1931 13th street NW
Washington DC 20009
(202)483-6622 x363
Mgraham@nmac.org