TRAINING COURSE
CHAT delivers a one day training workshop for specific groups based on the needs assessment which include women’s workshop, men’s workshops etc. The aim of the workshops is to set HIV prevention strategies for example the most recent women’s workshop aimed at empowering women in sexual health decisions such as:
– Antenatal HIV testing
– Prevention of HIV transmission of mother to child
– Discussion on cultural issues
During this workshop, women discussed the following issues and provided feedbacks as shown below.
1. Why test for HIV
– Better to know than not to know
– Start treatment early before the cells are destroyed
– Avoid passing on the infection unknowingly
2. The consequences of not testing for sexual transmitted infection before conceiving
– Transmission of HIV to unborn child
– Risk of catching/spreading a sexually transmitted infection
Outcomes of the women’s workshop
’ The workshop found that 74% of participants thought that women were shy to discuss sexual health issues with their patterns such as condom use.
– 60% of the women agreed that cultural beliefs do not empower women when it comes to relationships.
– 95% agreed to antenatal testing
– The workshop was mainly attended by women from BME community by 85% and 15% from the British ’ white community.
At the end of the session, participants agreed upon the following preventative measures:
– Advocacy for sexual health awareness
– Take up HIV test before conception
– Embarrass culture issues in conjunction with their health and well-being
– Define the role of a women in the prevention of sexually transmitted infections
– Play an effective role in the family in the prevention of STIs
– Locate the sexual health centres in Brent
Ethnicity Background
According to HIV specific data collection undertaken by the HPA in 2009 it presented that 817 Brent residents are on HIV treatment. This demographic profile of HIV positive people indicates that the majority are from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups, dominantly from Black African population. This shows the significant sexual health awareness need amongst the black African population in Brent. CHAT mainly targets the areas dominantly dominated by BME community group such as places of worship like Pentecostal churches, mosques etc. Therefore based on the outreach analysis black Africans were represented by 43%, Asian were 19%, while Caribbean were 13%, European white were also 13% and 13% represented British white.
– Based on current trends the local population, the trend of HIV is expected to become higher in Brent given more ethnically diverse with a higher proportion from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups. Therefore, the demand and complexity of sexual health awareness is required. As the prevalence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections is expected to increase significantly
