2020 Taiwan Lourdes Association Annual Report
Since 1997, Taiwan Lourdes Association (Hereinafter abbreviated as TLA) has entered to its 24th year. Based on the service provided this year, we have summarized our achievements into four main categories :
(1)Stability
"In recent years, we have observed a trend in the average age of our overall service recipients gradually increasing. While TLA has consistently maintained approximately a quarter of new service recipients each year (23% in 2020), the age distribution of service recipients still predominantly falls within the 41-50 age group, constituting 39% of the total service population. Furthermore, examining the situation of external referrals, we have noticed a gradual reduction in the resources offered by external entities. The economic needs of our service recipients persist, and assisting them in reintegration and healthy aging has become a major challenge.
This year, the number of multiple-needs new cases has decreased by approximately 10%, primarily. Notably, individuals struggling with non-opioid substance addiction continue to increase, constituting around 75% of the total service volume. In recent years, the issue of substance addiction among cases has grown, often accompanied by comorbid mental health challenges, leading to increased complexity in case demands. Additionally, these cases frequently involve urgent situations such as self-harm and acute psychiatric symptoms, contributing to an increased mental burden on our staff.
(2)Adjustment
In 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, TLA had to cancel or postpone numerous activities and outreach efforts. The planned international conferences and exchanges were also unable to proceed as a result. In response to the pandemic, we adjusted our previous work patterns and implemented measures in line with epidemic prevention.
Since the establishment of the Hualien and Taitung support group in 2016 to meet the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS (Hereinafter abbreviated as PLWHA) in remote areas, we expanded our services by setting up a base in Taitung in 2018. Over the past five years, we have continuously developed and deepened our services in the Taitung region. Responding to changing demands, we identified a need for increased service investment and staff adjustments in the Hualien area. Therefore, we will be relocating our base to be perpetually situated in Hualien, with Taitung receiving periodic services.
Since taking over the Youth Substance Abuse Program for Levels 3 and 4 in March 2016, we've gained four years of service experience. Initially focused on serving youths and families dealing with the levels 3 and 4 substances use , we gradually expanded our outreach to Juvenile Detention Houses to include neglected and street-involved youths who were entangled in substance use and legal issues. Simultaneously, we provided support to many parents grappling with issues related to upbringing, finances, and parent-child relationships. Over the years, we observed that the challenges faced by youths using substances not only highlight the presence of illegal substances but also repeatedly underscore the need for societal and institutional reforms and adjustments. Considering our organizational capacity and resource allocation, we concluded this program at the end of 2020. However, we remain a friendly backup for collaboration with other organizations.
(3)Enhancement
In 2019, our organization received subsidies from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, allowing us to leverage our accumulated years of experience from the Chaolu Therapeutic Community. We expanded it into a therapeutic community for addiction treatment. After months of preparation, we officially commenced operations in 2020. Guided by a harm reduction approach that respects human dignity, our intervention covers the holistic aspects of individuals, including physical, psychological, interpersonal, social, occupational, and spiritual dimensions. Our goal is to empower individuals on their journey toward recovery. Through reflective learning during the service process, we continuously make rolling adjustments, accumulating localized experience in harm reduction therapeutic community services.
(4) Advocacy
This year, in response to government policy recommendations, we observed challenges faced by clients who, due to sexual violence, needed PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) but couldn't find support from social welfare agencies. Therefore, we proposed clarifying responsibilities in the Rights Protection Committee to ensure that Centers for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault are aware of their obligation to provide necessary assistance to victims. Additionally, we advocated for the modification of the definition of risky behaviors in the committee, alleviating concerns for PLWHA who are already untransmittable by potential legal consequences.
In the process of shifting the focus of addiction prevention and treatment from the legal system to rehabilitation, we actively participated in providing policy advice and practical experience on the establishment of the Addiction Integrated Medical Demonstration Center, the renovation of Addiction Prevention Centers, the deployment of resources for addiction social reintegration, and the diverse development of therapeutic communities.
On the societal front, we noticed the dental care challenges faced by PLWHA. We organized a focused forum, received coverage from SET News, and advocated for the medical rights of PLWHA, urging the implementation of universal protective guidelines. Recognizing the prolonged societal challenges faced by female PLWHA, we collaborated with several female celebrities to produce advocacy videos, emphasizing the importance of paying attention to women's sexual health.
To address the deficiencies in Article 21 of the HIV Infection Control and Patient Rights Protection Act., we created an infographic summarizing five key points:
1. Difficulty in providing evidence, violating the law of evidence
2. Punishment even when untransmittable
3. Potentially misused for revenge or intimidation,
4. Adversely affecting epidemic prevention,
5. Penalties higher than those for Category 1 communicable diseases, violating The Principle of Proportionality.
(5)Statistical Summary Table
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Project
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Content
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Achievement
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Remarks
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Direct Service
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Community Care
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- Professional Case management
- Resources linking
- Advocacy
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- 1,790 people in total
- 1,534 cases with simple needs or advisory
- 256 cases with multiple needs constituting 15% of the total cases
- Gender ration is 8 :2.
- 12 advocacy cases
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The total contact count exceeds 60,000 people.
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Financial Aid
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- Life, Medical, Housing and others(including referrals)
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- 1,485 times
- 80% of demands have been alleviated.
- Total Amount: NTD 2,174,389
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Counseling
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- Telephone consultation, Counseling Sessions, Consultation, Advisory, Greeting and Care
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Occupational Guidance
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- Employment Advisory, job matching, work-for-relief programs, referrals
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- 307times. Nearly half of the times can meet vocational needs.
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Referral
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- Housing, financial, employment and other
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- 143 times (with financial referrals being the highest at 96 times).
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Halfway House
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- Housing
- Nutrition Supplies
- Emotional Support
- Health Management
- Employment Consulting
- Life Skill Training
- Leisure Activities
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- Total of 23 residents. 60 times of accommodation
- Nutrition: 4,331 times
- Health Management: 858 times
- Employment Consulting: 219 times
- Life Skill Training: 730 times
- Social Skill Training: 484 times
- Advisory: 187 times
- Building Support System: 409 times
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Outreach
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- Services in hospitals, housed of clients or other places
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- 528 times. Hospital visits have significantly increased.
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Telephone and Internet consultation
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- Advisory through telephone, LINE App and Email
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- Phone services: 886 times.
- Internet services: 479 times
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HIV Test
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- Providing Anonymous HIV Test
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Medication pickup service
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- Assist Taiwanese PLWHA residing abroad in adhering to ART(Antiretroviral Therapy)
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- In 2020, a total of 37 individuals, accounting for 180 instances, were assisted in receiving medication abroad due to the inability to return to Taiwan for stable medication and treatment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Community Center
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- Support, leisure, socializing event
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Workshops
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- Topics includes: Medical, Adaptation, Serodiscordant couples, Intimacy and coming out etc.
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- 8 events.
- 172 participants.
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Support Groups
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- Newly diagnosed support group
- Drug anonymous harm reduction group (DAHR/DA/D-talk) for opioid & non-opioid DUs
- Support group in Taoyuan
- Middle Age Support Group
- Family support group
- etc.
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- 21 sessions of Newly diagnosed support group; 103 participants.
- 87 sessions of DAs; 600 participants.
- 5 sessions of Middle Age Support Groups; 55participants.
- 1 session of Family Support group; 7 participants.
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Leisure/
Growth Activities
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- Festival feasts
- Tours
- Personal growth courses
- Sister Lin story-telling
- Etc.
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- 103Leisure Activities ; 1,200participants.
- 4 growth activities/workshop; 77 participants
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Internet
Service
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- All the groups combined, there are 986 people in total
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Prison Visits and
Consultation
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- Individual/group/correspondence counseling and visits
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- Individual counseling: 130 people;
- Group counseling: 55 sessions, 863 participants;
- Correspondence support: 252 times.
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Substance
users’ family support plan
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- Beginning with mitigating the harm caused by substance use on the body, mind, and spirit, we offer services to help individuals and families reconnect with society and regain stability.
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- Total 51 clients served;853 advisories
- 263 visits
- 517 times of phone/text/social media services
- 71 financial aid cases (NTD 167,399 in total)
- 194 referrals/contact/connect to related resources
- 92 times consulting services
- 82 group counseling services (650 participants)
- 17 educational advocacy (31,380 participants);
- 1 workshop (40 participants)
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Level 3 & 4 youth drug program
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- To serve teenage clients below 18 years old, providing family intervention, referrals, welfare connection , essential goods and family consultation etc.
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- 28 clients in total
- 172 visits
- 216 phone follow-ups
- 50 referrals
- 58 other services
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Scientific
Researched-Based Interventions for Drug Addiction Inmates Project
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- Serving HIV-negative inmates in Taichung Abuser Treatment Center, Taichung prison and Taichung Women's Prison
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- Taichung Scientific Researched-based Group: 124 sessions, 1,548 participants.
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Chaolu Therapeutic Community
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- Group session(Harm reduction, Spiritual etc.)
- vocational rehabilitation
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- 32 Advisories
- 20 Assessments
- 12 cases
- 166 Group Sessions; 1,591 instances participate.
- Agricultural labor, group courses, etc., a total of 1,113 times.
- 1,376 counseling services
- 24 individuals of Outreach services
- 3 family relationship empowerment camps, with a total of 55 participants.
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Staff Members Training and Supervision System
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On Job Training
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Helper Workshops and various training courses
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In 2020, our staff has participated in 129 on-the-job training sessions, totaling 319 hours.
We provide in-service staff with undergraduate courses ,amounting to a total of 80 hours.
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Supervision
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Individual and group supervision
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- Individual/Group Supervision: 20 sessions
- Case discussion/Study: 86 sessions
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Intern Guiding and training
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Enhancing professional skills and enriching knowledge and techniques in issues related to HIV/AIDS and drug abuse
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11 College students and 1 graduate student are on internship
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Volunteers Recruitment and Training
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Volunteers Recruiting, training, supervising, service-learning
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- 6 Recruits with 30 participants
- 8 members on service-learning; 96 hours in total.
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PLWHA Service Providers workshop
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Service Providers workshops and seminars
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- 3 sessions
- 113 participants
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Publication of promotional materials
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Education
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General public & service providers Promotion
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- General public: 190 sessions, 7,373 participants
- Service providers: 242 sessions, 5,331 participants
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Publication
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Publishing brochures, e-books & articles
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- 1 International Seminar Journal Article
- Over 30,000 copies of promotional materials;
- 68 e-books with the total view of 196,048
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Public Relations and Concept Promotion
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Social Media Promotion
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Media report
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Reporting about TLA, and engaging in social conversation and cooperation.
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TLA reports has been released on Give Circle, Taiwan NPO Information Platform ,People Citizen Jounalism ,charity.yahoo.com and 15 other local media.
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Advocacy
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Advocating a supportive society, abolishing HIV Infection Control and Patient Rights Protection Act., for the rights of female PLWHA, long-term care rights, and PLWHA empowerment.
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Organizing a charity second-hand clothing sale in collaboration with various celebrities.
Advocating for the abolition of Article 21 of the HIV Infection Control and Patient Rights Protection Act, the community of PLWHA initiated a petition on public policy platforms to abolish Article 21. This effort aims to break the social barriers faced by PLWHA. Our organization supports this petition, assisting in its promotion and creating an easy-to-understand guide that outlines the issues associated with Article 21. We simplify the problems into five main points:
1. Difficulty in providing evidence, violating the law of evidence
2. Punishment even when untransmittable
3. Potentially misused for revenge or intimidation,
4. Adversely affecting epidemic prevention,
5. Penalties higher than those for Category 1 communicable diseases, violating The Principle of Proportionality.
This guide is shared on our official social media page and used for external awareness campaigns to educate the public.
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International
Interaction
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- 23rd International AIDS Conference – known as AIDS 2020
- APCOM organization online meeting
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The Social Communication Platform,ideveloped by TLA since 2019, invites PLWHA who are open to engaging in conversations with society to join the project. Participants can choose to remain anonymous. People can view profiles and articles of PLWHA online ,select a person to talk to and leave a message. Upon receiving a message, PLWHA respond via voice recording.
We summarized our experience in this project ,submitted a poster to AIDS 2020 ,and successfully presented it.
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Collaborative Research Project Beyond the Association
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- HIV Awareness and Situational Anxiety Among the Taiwanese Population Survey
- Study on PLWHA current living conditions
- Investigation on Medicine side effect of PLWHA Survey
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We collaborated with the pharmaceutical companies and conducted three research studies this year, including two questionnaires in association with Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) and Taiwan HIVStory Association and one with Johnson& Johnson.
30% of population still believes that HIV could be transmitted through mosquito bites or that the virus could survive in the air, food and so on. When asked about the information regarding U=U, over 60% don’t understand what it means.
More than 75% of PLWHA are concerned that the exposure of their HIV status could impact their job or study. 20% of them have actually been laid off or faced discrimination because of it.
Over 70% of individuals worry about facing medical care rejection due to their online medication record or self-disclosure about their HIV status. Above 15% PLWHA have experience this. 30% are treated differently by medical workers because they disclose their HIV status.
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Alliance
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- HIV Positive Alliance organized 7 gatherings/events, with a total of 59 participants
- Collaborating with Taiwan HIVStory Association and Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), we organized 2 empowerment courses with the participation of 11 workers from HIV-related units.
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Information System Development
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Establishing Case Management and Internal Administration Systems
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The new case management system is now online and operational.
The progress in establishing the Chaolu Therapeutic Community case management system has reached 30%.
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2020TaiwanLourdesAssociationAnnualReport.pdf