Featured

When and How to Share HIV Status

Published

10 years ago

August 12, 2014

Sharing your HIV status with those you trust can help with the stress of having HIV and can actually improve your overall health.

For many, when they learn of a positive HIV status or even if they’ve known for a while, there are bound to be many situations in your life in which you will be faced with the decision of whether or not to disclose your HIV status.

< p>It is often difficult to tell a spouse, partner or perhaps someone you’re dating, healthcare providers such as a dentist or Inform sex partners you’ve been with about your status.

To tell others that you are infected with HIV has to be balanced with honesty and protecting your right to privacy. Who has a legal right to know about your status? Are there situations where you are legally bound to disclose that you are HIV positive?

Barriers to disclosure are HIV stigma, fear of rejection, fear of blame (intimate partner violence), being treated differently, fear of loss of control over confidentiality (being able to chose who knows and who doesn’t),

Issues include self-protection, burdening loved ones and criminalization, especially when criminal laws change state by state.

There are no simple answers that are right for everyone. It takes time to adjust to being HIV positive.

Loren Jones, an African American woman who has lived for 28 years, talks about how it was organizations like Women Organized Responding to Life Threatening Diseases (WORLD) that helped her to be able to disclose and be open about her own status for 20 years.

As a member of the Bay Area African American State of Emergency and Black Treatment Advocacy Network (BASE/BTAN), Jones partnered with Georgia Schrieber, Alameda County’s Linkage to Care coordinator, to provide an open discussion about the need to make disclosure of HIV status in this county safe for all.

Jones knows of two recent stories where HIV women were killed after their status was disclosed. In 2010, in Dallas Texas, a 28-year-old African American woman was stabbed by her partner after she told him of her status.

In 2014 in San Antonio, Texas, a woman was strangled. The man accused of her murder, said they had had oral sex, and he later learned she was HIV positive.

Jones says it is violence, especially against women that drives the importance of creating safe spaces “Disclosing can be healthy and can help to maximize one’s healing, says Jones.

Being open and safe promotes mental health and wellness, combats isolation and loneliness, and facilitates open communication. To end fear of disclosure we must have education, health literacy, giving those living with HIV emotional support, to ensure their best outcomes.

For disclosure assistance, contact Alameda County Public Health Department
Office of AIDS Administration, 1000 Broadway, Suite 310 at 510. 268. 7630.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

7 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

1 week ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

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City Government

Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Published

1 week ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Beverli Marshall began her first day with the City on April 10. ICMA image.

Special to The Post

At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.

Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.

Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”

According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.

“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”

When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.

At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”

While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.

On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.

“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.

The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.