Access to Treatment for Youth
The Canadian Treatment Action Council (CTAC) has formed a national Youth Advisory Network (YAN) composed of young people aged 30 and under, many of whom are HIV+. These young leaders work collectively to guide the advocacy and policy development of young people living with HIV, with regards to access and barriers to treatment, care, and services.
Members of the YAN take part in youth-oriented activities to better understand the barriers of access to treatment, care, and services for youth, and work on strategies to overcome them.
Youth Environmental Scan
To date, with the assistance of a research team consisting of staff from the Canadian Treatment Action Council, the YAN conducted an environmental scan (available here) of care and treatment supports for young people living with HIV (YPLHIV) in Canada.
‘Tools for Action’ Workshop
Additionally, the YAN has developed a ‘Tools for Action’ workshop targeted at young HIV+ youth in Canada that covers the following issues:
- Overview of Youth and HIV/AIDS in Canada
- HIV/AIDS Diagnosis
- Healthcare Providers
- Access to Services and Treatment Options
- Disclosing your HIV/AIDS Positive Status
- Barriers to Services, Treatment, & Participation
- Insurance and Drug Benefit Options
- Leadership Skills
If you are interested in joining the YAN or would like more information, please
contact us directly at leah@ctac.ca.
What is this project about?
With the assistance of a research team consisting of staff from the Canadian
Treatment Action Council, the YAN conducted an environmental scan of care and
treatment supports for young people living with HIV (YPLHIV) in Canada. The
environmental scan was conducted with the help of youth-led and youth-serving
community-based organizations across Canada. CTAC engaged HIV-positive young
people to examine local barriers to accessing HIV treatment and care.
The environmental scan has helped
CTAC and its community, clinical, research partners and youth-led and youth
serving organizations to improve access to care and treatment for YPLHIV. It is
about making sexual health services better for youth living with HIV in Canada.
As part of this project, we heard from a diverse range of youth (below the age
of 30) and youth serving organizations on the following issues:
1. Engaging youth-led and youth-serving organizations in examining local barriers to Young People Living with HIV and AIDS
2. Building a national Young People Living with HIV (YPLHIV) Working Group which will provide ongoing leadership in program development, policy engagement and community-based research
3. Identifying the range of support and care services which young people believe are youth-friendly and those which are inappropriate for YPLHIV
4. Identifying best practices in provision of youth-friendly HIV care and treatment services and recommendations for greater support and recognition of the value of youth-led support, care and treatment initiatives.
5. Generating recommendations for community-based and clinical service providers to make their treatment and care services more youth-friendly.
The information that we collected as a result of the scan is being used to plan advocacy and programs for youth across Canada. A report (available here), with results from the scan, has also been developed in order to share the findings with various groups, organizations and communities from coast to coast to coast.
For more information about the YAN and its materials, please contact Leah Stephenson at leah@ctac.ca
Youth Environmental Scan
If you are a youth under the age of 30, click here to answer questions about how you get information about care and treatment and where you go when you need help.
If you work with youth in a community group, agency, drop in, clinic or AIDS Service Organization, click here to answer our questions.