SisterLove’s Community Resource Guide

Our Organization, SisterLove, Inc. is the oldest nonprofit of its kind in the Southeastern United States, with a satellite location operating in South Africa. For just over 32 years, we have worked to end the spread of HIV, protect those who live with it, and inoculate the public against the ignorance and misinformation that drives the stigma against those who live with or are at risk of contracting HIV. We not only work to provide the testing, treatment, and counseling resources to directly address the HIV epidemic at the individual and community level, we also work to meet the multifarious intersectional challenges that those individuals and communities face. As champions for the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Black women, and all marginalized groups here at our base of operations in Southwest Atlanta and globally, we consider it our essential mission to directly empower those we serve to not only to improve and maximize their sexual health, but to also fully realize their inherent right to freedom from material instability. Because of this ethos, we have worked to create spaces of non-judgemental acceptance and unconditional support. Our position as a place of refuge for those most in need often attracts individuals not only in need of sexual health services, but also those facing crises such as homelessness, poverty, and other practical challenges. This reality forms the mandate to create systems of seamless access to the resources that are most needed.

            It is in the spirit of providing holistic care and attention to the intersectional needs of our community that we developed our Community Resource Guide (CRG) application. This guide is a reliable and digitally versatile index of service providers, informational resources, and material support programs that can be easily accessed by those who need it most. It is also portable with dual online/offline functionality on both smartphones and computers. This application not only represents our understanding of the need to innovate solutions to both common and uncommon barriers of access to essential services, but also embodies our desire to be a trusted source of information and an active advocate for the right of every human being to live a life of dignity and safety.

It is this desire to connect those we serve with the support systems required to enhance their well-being in palpable ways that led us to National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health/Health and Human Services’ (NLM/NIH/HHS) informational resources and online tools. The easy-to-digest infographics, fact sheets, and widgets provide a central access point for critical knowledge. We highlighted these resources independently in our CRG app, and also at the end of our marketing funnels built to direct people to NLM/NIH/HHS properties. We also rebuilt our Frequently Asked Questions About PrEP page around the cutting edge knowledge base found on the HIVInfo website.

The viability of our CRG app has already been demonstrated. One recent example is of a self-identified Queer individual who had come to us for HIV testing at our Motherhouse location in Atlanta, Georgia. This uncertainty as to their HIV status coincided with their eviction from a home they were living in with a former partner. Our CRG app, accessible by an easy-to-use QR code, provided direct access to the HIVInfo resources they needed not only to comprehend their HIV status, but also to local community support organizations that helped them find housing. Our motto is “Healthy Loving is Healthy Living!”. For SisterLove, Inc, the meaning of this phrase extends beyond just enhancing sexual health for individuals. It also promotes the loving practices of mutual support, community engagement, and the moral impetus to provide for those in need without judgement or stigma.

To stay up to date with developments on our Community Resource Guide app, and our other efforts to achieve Reproductive Justice and equality for Black women, and all marginalized peoples, visit our Newsroom and become a subscriber.

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Becoming a Tiktoker- using Social Media to Educate and Enlighten

Learning about TikToks

I am a Z-illennial: born at the end of the Millennial era and right at the beginning of the generation now known as Gen-Z. Even though Gen-Z made TikTok what it is today, my old-soul-self, naturally felt quite out of my element at the beginning of this project because I felt really removed from TikTok culture; I didn’t even have the app on my phone. To fully immerse myself in the YEAH project, I approached it as a sort of research project. First, I learned what a TikTok is: a TikTok is different from a video because a TikTok is a TikTok. 15, 30, or 180 second videos are compiled by the user in the TikTok app or another video editing app like Viamaker or BeeCut by compiling shorter video clips together to make up the longer video. Downloading TikTok and watching a couple TikToks on my “For You” (content feed) page was a very small first step. After going to a training led by a MOASH youth with TikTok program leaders Chardae and Natasha, TikTok started to make a bit more sense. The youth guided us through how to make a TikTok, which for 15-180 seconds can be an extremely involved process.

Making TikToks

The best way to understand TikTok is to actually make a TikTok. For further context into the journey that was coming to understand the complex nuances of TikTok making and even watching, it’s important to note that TikTok stars can spend hours upon hours making what appears to be a simple 15 second TikTok. The first TikTok I ever made was for the YEAH project. I filmed myself having a conversation with my 16 year old self and we had a conversation about HIV and fear-based HIV education. The 60 second TikTok did very well! It got 25 likes and 727 views which I was very proud of for my first TikTok. Amidst being a 60 second video, it took me 5 hours to make. Yup, you read that right, 5 hours. I attribute this mostly to me still not knowing how to make a TikTok. By the time I made my second HIV TikTok, there was a TikTok update that created auto generated subtitles for the TikToks, which helped make creating my TikToks much easier.

A part of my role with the YEAH project was reviewing TikToks that MOASH youth submitted. I created the review criteria that each TikTok was going to be checked by to ensure there was consistency and accuracy of information shared. The criteria included: accurately portraying HIV information, utilizing the National Library of Medicine as a cited resource in the TikTok, and including subtitles for accessibility. Beyond these criteria, youth could make any TikTok they wanted as long as the TikTok did not include any words banned or “shadow banned” by the TikTok algorithm (at the start of this project #lgbt was shadow banned which meant that if a TikTok user wrote #lgbt in the Tiktok caption, or on the video itself, the video would get little to know views). By the end of the project, this was no longer the case for #lgbt/q, but was still the case for words like sex, penis, and vagina.

What I took away from it

I learned so much from the YEAH project and I am still learning! Amidst the success of the two TikToks I shared to TikTok with 727 and 738 views respectively, when I shared these TikToks to MOASH’s TikTok page, the TikToks only got between 6 and 11 views. I’m still not sure why. Overall, I learned that TikTok is very cool because you don’t need to have a following at all to have a video do really well. TikTok is infamous for having first time TikTokers go viral. And even though my TikToks only got around 700 views and the TikToks on MOASH’s page only get around 10, I think that is still a win! All the TikToks we shared for the YEAH project were HIV positive and truly shared the good news about HIV! And we really are continuing the journey of not only sharing medically accurate information about HIV, but also destigmatizing HIV education along the way.

Example of the most viewed TikTok from this project: HIV is NOT a death sentence

NLAAD Expansion: Disseminating health information on how to find and use the NIH/HHS information resources online

During the second half of the project (third quarter of the year) we were able to implement most of the activities planned within this project. All activities were delivered virtually.

We had developed presentations/webinars to be delivered both in English and Spanish. The first set was about the information and resources about HIV/AIDS that can be found in the HHS and NIH webpages, but also in different pages from federal health organizations, such as PubMed, National Library of Medicine, CDC, HIV.gov, FDA, etc. The second set was about finding and using information and resources about PrEP navigation on the same pages, but we also added a component on HIV/AIDS and PrEP navigation during these difficult times of COVID19, that can help the PrEP navigators and the programs they work at to succeed in their efforts to help their clients and the community.

The first set, “How to find information and resources about HIV/AIDS online” / “Como encontrar informacion y recursos sobre VIH/SIDA en la internet” was presented by the Director of Community Mobilization at the Latino Commission on AIDS, Luis Mares, MSW. We launched this part with the webinar in Spanish, as part of our program “Salud es Vida” with great attendance and good reactions from the participants, they were engaged and asked many questions. At the end of the webinar we were able to compare the results from the initial poll and the one presented at the end, showing that we have been successful not only in providing the participants with new ways and websites where they could find resources, but also increase their interest in these pages and how to use them. The following 3 webinars of this set were in English. One of the webinars was exclusively for the staff of the Commission. We considered it important that our own staff received this information that we consider very useful, especially when we provide services to our clients, and also patient navigation.

To complement the webinars, we have created two infographics with this information, on what information can be found in these pages, and how to find them. These infographics will be shared with our partners across the country through our listserv. We want this to reach every corner of the country through the organizations that work together with us not only in NLAAD but different programs. These infographics will be posted on the NLAAD page and in every one of the Commission’s social media platforms.

And our second set of presentations/webinars “Tailoring Strategies: Successful Navigation Models – PrEP Navigation”/ “Adaptando Estrategias: Modelos de Navegacion exitosos – PrEP Navigation” was presented also in English and Spanish but our Director of capacity Building, Bolivar Nieto, MA. We launched this set in May at the Commission’s training institute Reunion Latina, delivered virtually for the first time but reaching to more participants. The second one, in English was presented to diverse participants from all over the country.

We will continue including this part of information dissemination to our future NLAASD campaigns as a way to prepare the field each year.

CAN Community Health, Florida State University “CAN You See Me?” Campaign

CAN Community Health worked with Florida State University faculty to achieve success in the second portion of the “CAN You See Me?” HIV and AIDS awareness campaign. Through their collaborative efforts, CAN Community Health and FSU raised greater awareness about HIV to priority populations that have been deemed high-risk.

The project’s first goal this cycle was to disseminate info about the CDC HIV Risk Reduction Tool. The tool is used to learn the HIV risk of different sexual activities when one partner is HIV positive and one is HIV negative. On social media, 26 posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn referenced the tool. Part of this goal included gathering feedback from users through a focus group to discuss opportunities for its improvement. In total, 7 participants living with HIV and having had partners not living with HIV provided valuable insight into ways to improve the tool.

The second objective involved creating QR (Quick Response) codes on print materials to be shared across our clinic networks and in outreach. These QR codes could be scanned with a phone and then taken to a website with NIH information or the CDC Risk Reduction Tool. Four unique QR codes were created and shared NIH HIV information.

Along with digital advertising efforts, 11 CAN Community Health Prevention Specialists included NIH information on their dating app profiles. Apps that targeted high priority populations included Grindr, Scruff, Plenty of Fish and more. Additional NIH information was shared on social media.

Finally, the creation of the second newsletter with NIH information was distributed across CAN clinics. This newsletter included interviews with a PrEP user, information about CAN’s mobile testing services and NIH online informative resources. Each clinic received around 100 print versions to share while patients are in clinic or during outreach events.

CAN Community Health and Florida State University used a mixture of traditional and digital forms of communication for the second portion of this project. By mixing these methods, they found great success in educating the public about HIV and AIDS in their area.

SisterLove Community Resource Guide

Our Organization, SisterLove, Inc. is the oldest nonprofit of its kind in the Southeastern United States. For over 31 years, we have worked to end HIV, protect those who live with it, and educate the public to influence the cultural and political attitudes that define the landscape of our collective response as a society to this unprecedented health crisis. Our work is multilateral, spanning public health, public policy, community research, health and wellness education for individuals, corporations, and political leaders, and as a champion for all things Reproductive Justice. The core of our work, however, revolves around our founding ethos, to protect and serve those living with/affected by HIV. It is our testing, treatment, and counseling program that is flagship of SisterLove, Inc. Those that walk in to our doors seeking these services are often facing the web of intersectional challenges that ensare those living in underprivileged, underserved, and overlooked communities. When members of our community, here in Southwest Atlanta, visit us, they often face material challenges in other areas of their lives. It is in the spirit of providing holistic care and attention to the intersectional needs of our community, that we crafted our Community Resource Guide (CRG). This guide is a living index of service providers, informational resources, and material support that can be easily used and distributed to those who need it most, at home here in Atlanta, across the United States, and beyond.

Our Community Resource Guide is the perfect host for the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health/Health and Human Services’ (NLM/NIH/HHS/HHS) informational resources and online tools. The resources offered there not only appeals to those who are directly affected by HIV, but also those who are seeking information for loved ones and others that they care for. We framed our inclusion of those resources in the spirit that they were created: easy to access, contextualized by relevance to specific interests and needs, and touching on the social pulse of contemporary society.  We integrate mentions and direct links to these resources in our blog posts and emails that highlight specific issues, such as Mental Health Awareness Month, Bisexual Health Awareness Month, and Women’s Health Week. We also directly highlight them in the index of the CRG itself.

The utility of the CRG, and the NLM/NIH/HHS resources therein, has already been demonstrated to us. A recent case exemplifies this in particular: one of our constituents who sought testing in the past had questions about the intersection between HIV and Diabetes. We were able to not only use the resource page on HIVInfo relating to that topic to articulate important information to them, we could direct them to the page themselves, which allowed them to develop a personal understanding of the risks and common concerns related to their conditions. Empowering those we serve with knowledge and access to life-saving information requires such easy-to-understand references. In this regard, the NLM/NIH/HHS resources have been indispensable. We are adapting our CRG into a mobile and web application which allows for real-time editing and dynamic display across all browser platforms. This ensures equal access to these resources, regardless of time, place, or socioeconomic background. Stay up to date on developments on this project by visiting our blog and view the current version of the Community Resource Guide on our website.

And remember, Healthy Loving is Healthy Living!

Youth Education Access to HIV (YEAH 2.0)

The Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH), in collaboration with Wayne State University (WSU) and the Connect 2 Protect Coalition, has launched the second year of the Youth Education Access on HIV (YEAH 2.0) project in Detroit, Michigan. The first year helped us to gather valuable information from youth, including the need for more information to be provided via social media platforms that they are already utilizing. Continuing with similar goals as the previous year, YEAH 2.0 aims to  increase  awareness among community stakeholders and the intended audience around access to technology to access HIV/AIDS information and resources. By doing so, project partners hope to eliminate barriers in access to information technology among Detroit youth in the short term and establish communities that are better positioned to decrease the incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS among Detroit youth in the long term. Partner organizations involved in YEAH 2.0 are continuing their commitment to providing health services and support for young people in Detroit and throughout the state of Michigan.

Since the beginning of the second round of funding, the steering committee continues to meet monthly along with smaller sub committee meetings to discuss ideas for collaborations and recruitment.

Taking what we learned from the first year of programming, we want to ensure that youth have access to information that not only helps them to manage their own health but also allows them to educate and engage their peers. In April 2021, the YEAH Project facilitator and program intern organized the first youth training. This training served as an intro to the YEAH 2.0 project for youth who were not familiar with it, along with a youth led TikTok 101 lesson to make sure everyone had a basic understanding of how to create engaging content on TikTok. Updates regarding our youth training and other program information can be found here. In the linked presentation, you will also find one of our TikTok submissions.

We look forward to continuing to work with our partners and youth across the state of Michigan to ensure that youth have access to updated and medically accurate information regarding HIV/AIDS.

“CAN You See Me?” A CAN Community Health Campaign

CAN Community Health, in collaboration with Florida State University, is working together to bring greater HIV and AIDS information to priority populations at risk. Through several marketing and social media initiatives, CAN Community Health’s project, titled “CAN You See Me? #HIVINFO: A Multifaceted Approach of NIH/NLM Resources Dissemination”, has achieved this goal so far. The project includes several key objectives that have been successful in getting NIH/NLM information out to our audience.

The project’s first objective combined digital advertising and virtual outreach on priority population dating apps. During the COVID-19 lockdown, CAN Community Health’s “Virtual Outreach” program involved embedding specially trained HIV Prevention Specialists on apps like Grindr, Tinder and Scruff to discuss HIV prevention, STI information, and testing resources. Eleven CAN Community Health Prevention Specialist at clinics across the southern and eastern parts of the US included NIH/NLM resources in their dating app profiles. Advertisements on these apps were also purchased and shared NIH HIV prevention links.

Objective two involved the creation of QR (Quick Response) codes. QR codes are a useful tool in receiving HIV information straight to a mobile device. Including QR codes on marketing materials like palm cards and handouts made distribution of NIH/NLM resources easier and more convenient during outreach. QR code signage was also placed throughout our 36 clinics. Four unique QR codes have included information about at home HIV Testing, PrEP, U=U, and the basics of HIV treatment.

The creation and distribution of a quarterly newsletter was CAN Community Health’s third objective. Newsletters have been traditionally under used in the communication of health information. Despite this, studies show that sex education has been well received when placed in a newsletter format. Copies of the newsletter will be distributed to CAN clinics across their network and seen by medical providers, staff, and patients reaching at least 15,000 individuals.

The fourth objective involved elevating NIH/NLM resources on CAN Community Health’s existing social media channels. Social media has long been used to share and receive health messaging. In combination with the credibility of NIH/NLM links, posts included a summary about HIV risk reduction, PrEP, testing and other topics. To date, these posts have been viewed on the feeds of CAN Community Health followers 13,455 times.

The last objective involves conducting a focus group on the CDC HIV Risk Reduction Tool. This tool helps visualize how certain behaviors contribute to one’s risk of acquiring HIV. By the end of the project, CAN Community Health will hold a focus group and share feedback on the tool with project administrators.

By using digital and traditional forms of communication, the “CAN You See Me?” project has been able to provide vital HIV and AIDS information to multiple communities across the country.

An extension of NLAAD to guide on how to Access NIH/NLM HIV/AIDS Resources

Every year through  National Latinx AIDS Awareness Campaign (NLAAD), we create awareness about HIV and the impact it has in our communities, to promote HIV testing and screening, prevention through behavioral changes and through PrEP, as well as treatment and the importance of viral suppression (U=U).

There is a need in our community to find information and inform themselves about HIV online. Many are   challenged on where to start, what pages to visit, where they can find updated and accurate information.

Through this year’s work our annual NLAAD campaign will fill that gap discovered, by providing guidance on how to navigate the NIH/HHS HIV/AIDS Resources, through webinars designed both in English and Spanish. We have prepared the presentations and we are excited we will deliver the first webinar in Spanish on June 4, through a national network of people with HIV who are Spanish-speakers.

The challenges of accessing culturally and linguistically relevant programs and services at an adequate health literacy level are an everyday event for many members of our Hispanic/Latinx communities. This group brings together an audience from throughout the United States and Puerto Rico through two programs called Salud es Vida/Health is Life and Poder Latino/Latino Power. For this group we will present information on sites in an interactive manner where participants could access information in Spanish (HIV.gov, CDC, HRSA) around medications, research, U=U, treatment adherence, and more.

Participants to the webinar will be instructed on how to visit the following pages

• Homepage | HIV.gov
• Homepage | AHEAD (hiv.gov)
• HIVinfo | Information on HIV/AIDS Treatment, Prevention and Research | NIH
• PubMed (nih.gov)
• HIV | CDC
• HIV/AIDS Bureau | (hrsa.gov)

We will browse and navigate these webpages together, looking for different types of information, ranging from finding out locations to be tested for HIV to finding medical research publications on HIV, depending on the interests of the individual.

Desert AIDS Project

During this past quarter, Desert AIDS Project (DAP) provided a virtual training about accessing NIH/NLM HIV/AIDS/PrEP online resources to six reference librarians of our grant partner, Palm Springs Public Library as the library remains closed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in our region. The purpose of the training was to enable reference librarians to assist library patrons to research HIV/AIDS/PrEP information, testing services, and access to HIV prevention medication. Palm Springs Public Library also placed a link on the library’s website to online NIH/NLM HIV/AIDS and PrEP resources. Twelve virtual HIV education and HIV prevention education sessions were conducted through Zoom to 118 in-patients of substance use disorder recovery centers. Slides presented during these sessions contained links to NIH/NLM HIV/AIDS and PrEP resources. HIV/AIDS/PrEP educational material with links to NIH/NLM HIV/AIDS/PrEP information were distributed at community events , including homeless shelters at 16 businesses and in community locations targeting high-risk populations (primarily Latinx and LGBTQ). Materials contained QR codes for community members to access these online resources. Resource guides with links to NIH/NLM HIV/AIDS/PrEP information were mailed with at-home HIV testing kits to in-patients at recovery centers and to community members requesting at-home HIV testing kits.

Prevention Collaborative: Online Store for HIV Materials Development

As the end of our contract year approaches, we have begun the collaborative process of considering what stories and characters we may want to explore in 2021. Community feedback for our previous work was extremely positive, and our special series addressing the COVID-19 crisis was particularly well received. We feel honored to have been able to tell a range of stories reflecting the realities of individuals and couples coping with the pandemic, and hope to continue that work as long as it’s needed.

Our stories are always community driven and will be created in consultation with experts in public health and health disparities. Initial feedback from these groups on potential storylines include:

• HIV/STD syndemics
• Generational differences in attitudes and behavior regarding HIV/STI testing and screening
• Promotion of home STI/HIV testing
• Drug user health
• Provider stigma/discrimination
• Expansion of COVID content, with a focus on the ongoing impact on mental health, the impact on marginalized communities, and issues for individuals living with HIV

We will continue our formative research and look forward to presenting new stories in 2021!