Established in 1997, Taiwan Lourdes Association has now served people living with HIV/AIDS (hereinafter “PLWHA”) for nearly 22 years. According to statistics from the Taiwan Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 37,919 people were living with HIV in Taiwan in 2018 of which approximately 1,993 people became newly infected with HIV in 2018. New HIV infections have slightly declined since 2017. To sum up the services performed, there are 4 areas on which we focus:
1.Stabilization
For clients with multiple needs, the number of new cases slightly declined. Surprisingly, the number showed a notable increase in non-opiate addicts and a decline in general cases that reflected a similar trend to that in 2017.
Case management intervention in hospitals and the prevalence of virtual communities have gained momentum by helping client’s simple needs, such as accompanying and emotional support. To further address clients, we extended the duration of services to enable us to provide long-term support and ongoing discussion with clients about how to overcome challenges and obstacles in their life, while helping them successfully re-enter society.
2.Broadening
We established the Support Group in Hualien and Taitung in 2016. In 2017, we launched the VIVA GO BUS campaign to understand the needs relating to AIDS on rural townships by cooperating with the pharmaceutical industry, local public health centers, and case managers. In 2018, we established our first service center in Taitung and employed 2 social service specialists to offer a wide range of services to PLWHA.
In response to the changing landscape of PLWHA, we are making a sustained effort to enhance drug related services by incorporating the needs of drug users and families to develop an ever-wider range of services. Moreover, we actively involve ourselves in foreign visits, which enable our staff to have broader horizons and a long-term vision for developing comprehensive services to PLWHA.
3.Advancement
With the hope of accumulating knowledge and enhancing quality of services, we’ve published 4 papers in academic journals, domestic and international conferences respectively. These papers articulated our achievement and reflection in the long term service experiences with PLWHA.
4. Giving voice
This year the legalization of same-sex marriage engendered heated debate throughout the country and stimulated fear for PLWHA and drug addiction due to stigma or discrimination. On the other hand, it opened up new vistas for social dialogue to get a better understanding of TLA’s mission and works.
To build inclusive and peaceful societies in the aftermath of conflict, we continue our unremitting effort to advance equality and non-discrimination. We launched the AIDS Ride for Love & Hope event -- cycling around Taiwan to engage the general public and connect people to friendly HIV/AIDS resources. Above all, we wish to make a public appeal that with the right treatment and care, PLWHA can expect to live as long as someone who doesn’t have HIV. Having HIV doesn’t have to stop you from living a healthy life in the way that you choose to do. Ultimately, we are hoping for PLWHA to remain positive and keep on pursuing what they love.
2018 Statistical summary of services
Project |
Content |
Achievement |
Remarks |
Direct Service |
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Community care |
Case management & Social work intervention, resources linking, advocacy |
Cases with multiple needs opened: 325; M/F ratio: 9/1 Cases with simple needs opened: 1,601 Advocacy: 7 cases |
Total PLWHA reached: more than 28,000 |
Financial Aid |
Life, medical, housing, others (including referring to other organizations) |
1,504 times; 80% of demands have been alleviated Total aid amount= NT2,909,491
|
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Counseling Services |
Support through telephone/Internet and formal counseling |
8,333 times |
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Employment consulting |
Consulting, matching, “second-hand” social skill training |
322 times, over 30% obtained stable employment |
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Referral Services |
Housing, financial, employment and other |
170 times (mainly refers to financial referral, 118 times) |
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Halfway Shelter Home |
Housing, nutrition supplies, emotional support, health management, employment consulting, life skill training, leisure activities |
Total of 26 residents, 85 services, average stay: 70 days. Meals delivery: 1,434 persons; Psychological support: 530 persons; Family council: 63 times Health management: 1,050 persons; Employment consulting: 298 persons; Life skill training: 1,037 persons; Leisure activities: 31 times |
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Chao-lu Rehabilitation Farm |
Farming, reading group, spiritual courses, leisure activities |
Total of 13 residents; 206 individuals attended; Courses: 404 persons; Leisure activities: 155 events Payrolls NTD 1,056,580; Re-employment rate: 73% |
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Outreach Services |
Hospitals, client’s home, and other places |
Total: 478 persons, but hospital visits slightly descreased, house visits increased. |
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Phone Call and Internet Information Services |
Providing information by telephone, LINE App, emails, and internet forum system. |
網路諮詢共795人次 Phone service: 963 times; Internet service: 795 times |
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HIV Test Service |
Providing anonymous HIV test |
Total: 52 persons, Of them heterosexual account for 60%. None of the participants tested positive. |
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Drop-in Friendship Centers |
Support, leisure, meeting, conferences |
Total: 861 times |
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Workshops |
Topics on treatment, adaptation, magnetic couples, intimacy, HIV+ coming-out |
12 workshops, 255 persons 4 VIVA GO BUS talks, 111 persons; |
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Support Groups |
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 of positives support group |
Newly diagnosed support group: 25 sessions, 140 persons; Harm reduction groups: 57 sessions, 747 persons; Middle-aged groups: 11 sessions, 114 persons; Online family support group: 11 attendants; |
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Leisure Friendship Activities |
Festival feasts, one-day tours, personal growth courses, commemoration, Sister Lin story-telling |
Leisure activities: 109 sessions, 1,319 participants Personal growth groups/workshops: 4 sessions, 73 participants. Commemoration: 1 session, 10 participants. |
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Online Services
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Facebook, Line App, website, Plus Radio |
Plus Radio: 52 episodes, 11,608 listeners; Line groups: 975 persons; Facebook & website: 1,129,411 reaches |
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Prison Visits and Counseling |
Individual/group/correspondence counseling and visits |
Individual counseling: 171 persons; Group counseling: 108 sessions, 1,862 persons; Correspondence support: 321 times. |
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Positive Alliance |
Promote human rights, empowerment and advocacy awareness, self-help and mutual assistance |
Gathering & activities: 7 sessions, 72 persons. |
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Drug users’ family support plan |
To reduce the harm of drugs on body-mind-spiritual level, and help drug users return to their families and to the society. |
Total 56 clients served; 182 visits; 641 phone follow-ups; 356 referrals (outbound); 148 financial aid cases (NT265,850); 55 group counseling services (678 participants); consulting services (99 persons); 11 educational talks (34,086 participants); 1 workshop (73 participants); |
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Level 3 & 4 youth drug program |
To serve teenage clients below 18 years old, providing family intervention, referrals, welfare connection and family concils |
Total 35 clients, 110 times service was provided, 310 phone follow-ups, 43 referrals, 157 other services. |
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Scientific Researched-Based Interventions for Drug Addiction Inmates Project
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Serving HIV-negative inmates in Hualien prison, Taichung prision and Taichung Women's Prison
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Hualien Prison, Agency of Corrections, Ministry of Justice: 78 sessions, 512 participants, total 1,587 persons. Taichung Juvenile Detention Scientific Researched: 6 terms, 32 sessions, total 535 persons. |
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TLA Staff Members Training and Supervision |
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On Job Training |
Participate Workshops and training courses |
Total training times: 1,962.76 hours; 79 hours/person |
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Supervising |
Individual and group supervision |
Individual/group supervision: 107 sessions Case study: 79 sessions |
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Volunteers Recruitment and Training |
Recruiting, training, supervising, meetup, institution visiting, |
1 recruiting session; 15 participants; 3 training & supervising sessions, 25 participants; 2 Meetup events, 9 participants; 2 institution visiting, 24 pacticipants; Service learning: 15 participants, 180 hours. |
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Workshops for Service Providers |
On-demand training courses and workshops |
4 on-demand training courses & workshops, 155 participants |
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文宣出版 |
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Education |
General public & service providers |
Total 368 sessions, 54,018 participants; General public: 186 sessions, 48,746 participants; Service providers: 182 sessions, 5,272 participants. |
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Publication |
Publishing brochures, e-books & articles |
Total circulations: 16,000 copies; 68 e-books; 37, 543 views. |
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PR RD & Commnunication |
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Media report |
Reporting about TLA, and engaging in social conversation and cooperation. |
FTV, NWCATV, Next magazine have produced feature program/reports respectively about TLA. More than 1,129,411 social media views. |
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Positive Love & Hope Campaign |
AIDS Ride for Love & Hope event for HIV/AIDS-- Cycling Around Taiwan connecting friendly HIV resources and egaging general public. |
1,200 km trip cycling around Taiwan completed, through 96 towns and cities, connected 13 friendly hospitals and 21 community service centers in different countries. Reached over 167,000 persons. Cycling video: more than 1,907 veiws. |
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Partnership and Engagement |
To promote discussion and voicing: Participate in domestic & international alliances to deepen the discussion and voice out. |
Participated in AIDS 2018 in Amsterdam. Contributed to getting U=U message out and distributing over 3000 flyers in Taiwan LGBT Pride 2018. Participated in 2 forums of patient alliances, launched long-term injection opinion questionnaire and 459 completed. Joined Humans as Hosts Project, 2018 Corporate Reputation of the Pharma Industry Survey. |
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MIS Development |
Case management and internal management system deployment |
New case management system deployment progress up to 60%. To deploy supervision, education, training management with online MIS. |
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