ABOUT
TALK. TEST. TREAT - Project Statement
Talk. Test. Treat will enhance the capacity for health workers and at-risk communities to be better resourced with a suite of culturally aware, clinically updated and designed promotional materials to improve knowledge and capacity in HIV, Sexually Transmissible Infections (STIs) and Blood Borne Viruses (BBV).
The notion of Talk, Test, Treat for effective Sexually Transmissible Infections and Blood Borne Viruses Prevention and Health Promotion among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and MSM (Men who have Sex with Men) in North Queensland will enable the health workforce to better engage on the complexities of talking about sexual health, testing options and treating arrangements.
TALK.
Talking about sexual health, talking about health and well-being, Talking and options for maintaining a safe and healthy sex life. Talking about prevention, talking about PrEP, talking about PEP, talking about managing STI’s, talking to the Doctor about HIV, talking to friends and family, talking to partners, talking to your health workers, talking about your positive result and getting support.
TEST.
Promoting testing, talking about testing, what is testing, how do tests occur, why test, where to test, testing often, testing options, what happens if I test positive? testing and confidentiality.
TREAT.
Why treat, what options are available, treat early. Treat for undetectable viral loads. Undetectable = Untransmissible (U=U).
Engaging with the key populations to support sexual well-being, specifically related to the prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmissible infections, early access to culturally and socially appropriate services and systems that respect the needs of community.
This will be achieved by:
-
Encouragement of staff to TALK with clients and community in ways that are consistent with positive health messaging, aligning to the stigma index
-
Promote regular TESTING and ensure care and services support flexibility, compassion and cultural and gender-based sensitivity when providing testing options
-
Promote TREATMENT options in a culturally safe way
-
Maintain vigilance on local issues and influences that apply to sexual health.
Scroll down to listen to the
"At the Table with QC" Podcast
Artwork Title: Wild Carrot
Artist Name: Shaun Edwards
Totems Name: Ma Wanjibung (Sour Yam) Pukun (bush grass)
Language Group: Kokoberrin
Area: Staaten River, Cape York Peninsula, QLD
I saw the carrot dangling in my great grandmothers’ fingers. She plucked it out bush near old mission at
Kowanyama.
I saw nothing but dead grass, she saw a crop of Wild Carrot, thin blades of grass which looked like any other dead
blade of grass. She saw the land through her trained eyes. She saw what her people had taught her, showed her.
One simple resource plucked from the ground by experience, by knowledge and understanding, by memory of how
it tasted so good, led her back to this place time and time again.
That taste and desire is in all of us and sometimes we drift too much to follow the desire, forgetting about the
consequences of our actions. If we value and respect our lives, we are stronger. If we follow the same unhealthy
path we are sure to remain sick and unwell.
Loving the life, you lead and share with others is key to a healthy and happy life. If we invest in that we are surely on
the way to memories of how it tasted so good.
Good Health, Path Wudur, Kokoberrin language.
