Terrence Higgins Trust Cymru has been working closely with the people of Wales to establish an innovative online peer support group across the country for people with lived experience of HIV.
Starting in early January, the four-session ‘Introduction to online peer support’ user involvement programme explored a range of crucial issues related to developing online support for people living with HIV in Wales.
With co-production at the heart of the new online peer support group, the aim of the sessions was to ensure that people living with HIV are in the driving seat from planning the project through to delivery and future direction.
In collaboration with organisations that support people living with HIV in Wales, participants from across the country were invited to attend the series of scoping workshops that focused on:
- what online peer support means to the community of people living with HIV in Wales
- what online safe spaces look like for people living with HIV
- what a group agreement would look like for the new peer support sessions in Wales
- how to facilitate maximum participation and ensure that the sessions are relevant, empowering and meaningful for attendees
- how members of the group can grow and learn together and from each other
- the detail of what people would like from the group’s future direction.
Delivered by Terrence Higgins Trust Cymru’s Online Peer Support Coordinator in Wales and members of Terrence Higgins Trust’s Living Well team, the group was designed and facilitated by people living with HIV for people living with HIV.
As a precursor to the February launch of the Wales-wide peer support survey for people with HIV, these sessions have laid the foundations for the innovative online peer support group for those living in and accessing HIV treatment services across the country.
If you would like more information about online HIV peer support in Wales, please contact [email protected]
