Newspaper Page Text
DIRECTOR'S
REPORT
As People with AIDS,
one of the latest problems
we face, both individually
and collectively, is funding
our treatment. And the
dynamics of that funding is
rapidly changing AIDS
cases increase. Insurance
companies will become
more adept at finding ways to not insure people who
are HIV positive, resulting in large numbers of
PWA's relying on Ihe public health system. With no
national heallh policy (or AIDS policy) in sight, the
burden of funding will fall mostly on the statejn
county, and city governments across this nation. And
because each local government is different, the level
of funding varies greatly from place to place. We
must all work locally to insure that adequate funding
is provided, and to insure that funding will rise as
AIDS cases increase.
Georgia was recently rated last in a survey that
rated quality of life in each state, and one of the
reasons for the poor rating is that we have a poor
public health system. The bulk of the responsibility
for funding is left up to the counties. We must force
the State to take a more aggressive role.
One of the ways we can improve the situation is
by getting Georgia to upgrade Medicaid. Although
Medicaid is a federal program, it varies from stale to
state. The amount of coverage depends on options
that each state "buys" from the federal program. One
of these options is the Medically Needy Program, and
it will be coming up for consideration soon in
Georgia
What the Medically Needy Program does is allow
more people to qualify for Medicaid. It allows them
. to "spend down" their income by deducting their
medical bills (paid or unpaid) from their total
monthly income. Thus, a person who receives
$500.00 a month from Social Security, which is
above the $354.00 limit for Medicaid, could qualify
if their monthly medical bills exceeded $146.00. A
large number of PWA's would fit into that category.
The Medically Needy Program has the advantage
that 2/3 of the money is federal, with only Incoming
from the state. It will cause more money to flow into
our public hospitals, allowing them to expand
services to keep up with rising caseloads. It will
provide benefits to any PWA who has no insurance
or who may lose their insurance in the future, which
is nearly all PWA's. It also solves the AZT funding
problem for many, which may become a serious
problem when the federal AZT program expires next
spring.
Georgia is one of only 14 states without this
program. Which has already been listed as a priority
by both the Department of Human Resources and the
Department of Medical Assistance, but it must be
included in the State budget for it to take effect. The
budget is proposed by the governor and approved by
the legislature. There is no guarantee that this
program will be included.
Now is the time to act! We need to write the
governor and state legislators in support of this
program. It will help all disabled Georgians. It will
help PWAs.
(If you need addresses, call the League ofWomen
Voters at 874-8683.)
Alive & Aware
Stebbo Hill
Managing Editor
Published by:
The All arils Chapter of
The National Association of People with AIDS
1132 W. Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 106
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
404/874-7926
Alive & Aware is published by and for people with AIDS and
people with AIDS Related Complex. We strongly encourage
PWA's and PWARCs and our supporters to contribute articles for
publication.
Alive & Aware is published by the Atlanta Chapter of NAPWA.
Opinions expressed are those of individual authors and in no way
represent official opinions of NAPWA, nor any other group of
agency mentioned herein.
Articles contained herein are for information only and do not
constitute an endorsement of any experimental therapy or drug
treatment. Persons interested in experimental drugs or alternative
therapies should consult with their health care practitioner.
The publication of any name or image in Alive & Aware does
not necessarily imply anything about that person's condition of
health or sexual orientation.
Alive A. Aware is dedicated to the memory of its founding editor,
Ralph Ginn
Mission Statement of The National Association of People with Aids
Wc are people with AIDS and People with AIDS-related disability and sexual or affeclional orientation. We are bom of
Complex (ARC) who can speak for ourselves to advocate for our and inextricably bound to the historical struggle for rights-civil,
own causes and concerns. We are your sons and daughters, your feminist and gay, physically challenged and human. We will not
brothers and sisters, your family, friends, and lovers. As people be denied our rights,
now living with AIDS and ARC, we have a unique and essential
contribution to make to the dialogue surrounding AIDS and we Statement of Purpose
will actively participate with full and equal credibility to help Our purpose is to promote self-empowerment of People with
shape the perception and reality surrounding this disease. AIDS and ARC by:
We do not see ourselves as victims. Wc will not be
victimized. We have the right to be treated with respect, dignity, 'Enhancing understanding through education and support
compassion and understanding. Wc have the right to lead 'Becoming equal partners with our health care providers service
fulfilling, productive lives-to live and die with dignity and organizauons
compassion. -Helping develop and implement the necessary services and
NAPWA will network with other PWA’s and PWARCs programs that will enhance the quality of our daily lives; and
regardless of race, color, creed, nauonal origin, gender, age, -Continuing to have control over and direction of our lives.
Atlanta to Host
National NAPWA
Board Meeting
Atlanta has been selected as the site of the
National Association of People With AIDS' Semi
annual national board meeting. Members and
representatives from over 80 PWA Coalitions
across the country are expected to attend. The
conference will be held at Tower Place Hotel at
January 26 - 29.
A variety of events and activities are scheduled
around the conference to supplement the board
meeting. Active EAR is scheduling a physician's
conference to discuss the AIDS/Syphilis link and a
proposed treatment plan. The CDC has been
invited to hold workshops as well.
There will also be a special reception at the
Nexus Contemporary Arts Center, where a month
long show of artworks entitled "The Subject is
AIDS" is being held. There will also be a special
benefit performance of Rebecca Ranson's new
play, "Body to Body."
Local NAPWA members are encouraged to
attend this conference, where you will be able to
meet people from all over the nation and learn
how-they are dealing with AIDS in their own
communities. It is an opportunity that should not
be missed!
Decrease in New .
AIDS Infections
Berkeley - The latest analysis of a major AIDS
study shows new AIDS infections in San
Francisco have continued to decline substantially,
mostly because of a decrease in high-risk sexual
behaviors.
The rate of new infections per year among
previously uninfected persons in the San Francisco
Men's Health Study dropped from 5.9 percent to
0.7 percent between the first half of 1985 and the
second half of 1987.
The new statistics, which amount to an 88
percent drop in the annual rate fa new infections,
are reported by Warren Winkelstein, M.D.,
directa of the Men's Health Study and professor
of epidemiology in the School of Public Health at
the University of California at Berkeley.
The reason fa the decline is that more and
more homosexual and
bisexual men have
abandoned or greatly
reduced their practice of
unprotected anal-genital
intercourse and have
decrease their number
of sexual partners,
Winkelstein said
Winkelstein and his colleagues reported their
new findings in the current issue of American
Journal of Public Health.
The research team includes James Wiley,
assistant director of U.C.-Berkeley's Survey
Research Center; Nancy Padian, assistant
professa of epidemiology at U.C.-San Francisco;
Michael Samuel and Stephen Shibofski, both
graduate research assistants at U.C.-Berkeley's
School of Public Health; Michael Aschcr.M.D.,
deputy chief of the Viral and Recketlsial Disease
Laboratoy of the California Department of Health
Services; and Jay Levy, M.D., professor of
medicine at U.C.-San Francisco.
Since 1984 the San Francisco Men's Health
Study has been moiitoring the spread of AIDS
among a representative sample of homosexual and
bisexual men in San Francisco.
Previously, Winkelstein and his colleagues
found a decline in new AIDS infections amoig
men in the study from an estimated annual rate of
approximately 18 percent pa year between 1982
and 1984 to approximately four percent pa year in
1986. This decline was also a result of reductiai
in unprotected anal-genital intercourse and
number of sexual partners.
The newest findings reinforce the conclusiai
that current public education strategies, supported
by effective canmunity aganization and public
health department effots, can control the spread of
the epidemic of HIV infection, Winkelstein
pointed out
He also emphasized the importance of
maintaining the present policies regarding
confidentiality of HIV test results, availability of
alternate test sites and contact notification
procedures, rather than switching to alternate
strategies.
Strategies from the
NAN Conference:
Conflict and Group Development
by George Sinclair
Special to Alive and Aware
New Orleans - Because there were 67
workshops to choose from at the NAN Skills
Building Conference here, and oily nine time slots
to fit those choices into, it seemed like a good idea
to too the ares that NAPWA and AID Atlanta as
groups and I as an individual are least good at
High on the list, fa me at least, was a seminar at
'Tune Management", and I hit that one first It
order, and anyone interested can hear
People must learn to talk about the things that
keep them apart.
Although the problems explored in one
workshop were chiefly perceived in terms of
different social-cultural (usually racial) groups
operating within the same agency, the toisions and
the paradoxes noted were not created by the
differences, but by attempts on both sides to
oversimplify those differences. For example,
unless gays and straights, a PWAs and other staff
and volunteer people can respect each other'
differences, they will both fail to see that the
problems are ours in common - not just youis, and
not just mine. We will tend to focus on the
problem, and be overwhelmed by it, instead of
focusing on a goal, an objective - like "What
would you like to see instead?"
People in conflict taxi to take fixed positions
and to make rigid demands, which may not be
realistic. When this happens, one suggested
technique is to ask each other, "If you could have
that, what would it get you?" (In otha words:
"What is it that you feel you really need to
have?"). Otha optiais that are satisfactory may
be possible.
In anotha workshop, the main point was how
to keep your energy focused oi things you can do
something about, rather than making
"fractionalized" efforts in random directions
(Oiling the squeakiest wheel of the monent). A
key point hae is recognition that divasity is
legitimate, that not everybody has to have "all the
right values, " that we must be committed to
sharing power, not blocking other groups -
especially in fundraising - but networking instead
In team building, their are stages of conflict, and
they teixl to recur in cycles. Morale rises and sinks
accadingly. In the beginning, both expectations
and morale are high. Disenchantment follow
when expectations are not met, and morale
plummets. Then comes adjustment, a normalizing
period, followed by a plateau period of
productivity and steady morale, leading to a repeat
of the same cycle as before, unless sonething is
done to stabilize. The workshop offered the
following model fa use at any point in the cycle,
fa optimum growth and maturity:
the diagram below,
time:
.my^^MVimwWMMNVWNWM * -' ■■:
| Is it
|
Is it Important?
Yes
Vo \
Yes
CRISIS
TRIVIAL |
No
WATCH IT
DROP IT \
weren t,
one
most that I
MM049KWM4MON4MCNM0HM
HUS
Going
Well
Not Going
Well \
;
Flexible
Nurture,
Support.
Maintain
Problem- i
Solving j
(Most time |
& energy) \
Fixed
Leave
It
Alone
Isolate It l
(Don't i
Waste
Energy) f
••• %• v WvVNtwWsvwfwviw:
attended were at least honest tries at offaing
something useful. Two of the best I lucked into
covered different techniques fa analyzing and
coping with coiflict within a between groups a
individuals,especially where AIDS is involved.
The perspectives were not the same - one dealt
with people whose differences are cultural, the
otha, with stages of conflict in teambuilding - but
a single basic principle was stressed in both:
By sticking to the model above, we are betta
able to keep ourselves focused on what is
organizationally important, and keeping that
oganization growing, moving forward, aware of
and facing up to its shortcomings, but neither
dissipating our energies in tilting with windmills
na failing to solve the problems ova which we
actually do have sane control.