Almost 3,000 people with HIV in the UK are part of MyHIV, a groundbreaking online support system. This makes it the largest community of people with HIV in the UK, with people helping each other to manage their health and wellbeing.
To celebrate the success of these services and encourage even more people to join up, Terrence Higgins Trust is holding a monthly prize draw for members, with an iPad as the opening draw’s prize.
MyHIV is part of Life Plus, a suite of confidential integrated online, face-to-face and telephone support services for African men and women living with HIV and supports individuals’ every day, non-clinical needs.
Created by HIV and sexual health charity, Terrence Higgins Trust, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and people living with HIV, MyHIV is an interactive online service, www.myhiv.org.uk, where African people can register to access one-on-one or group peer support, through online community forums, videos and stories, tailored health monitoring tools and information including how to access treatment, online counselling and advice and one to one health trainer sessions. It also includes links to personal recommendations for GPs and Dentists with good HIV knowledge across the UK.
“MyHIV covers wide-ranging aspects of health and wellbeing to suit different groups of people,” Christabel Kunda, Terrence Higgins Trust’s Groupwork Officer for African Communities, said. “Most African people living with HIV, or newly diagnosed, fear been judged or stigmatised. MyHIV supports them with lots of information and support on how to manage their health and live better with HIV.”
MyHIV is a forum open to African men and women, to discuss any relevant issues. “You can also access information on our African groupwork. Attending one of the groups is a safe place where African people can meet others in similar situations, share experiences and get emotional and practical support. MyHIV will help, and continue to help, African men and women improve their lives and fully integrate them into their local communities,” Ms. Kunda said.
Hosanna Bankhead, a health trainer for the programme said that MyHIV is proving to be an invaluable tool for African men and women living with HIV. Those who have joined have greatly benefited from it, she said.
Ms. Bankhead quoted one member who said: “I wrote my own story and the response I got was amazing. Now I do not feel alone anymore.”
For more information and to join MyHIV, please visit www.myhiv.org.uk.
