Workshops onUnderstanding HIV/AIDS in the Workplace
Suppressed laughter occasionally broke throughhand-covered mouths as eyes grew wide with disbelief over theuse of humour: Is it appropriate while discussing such a serioustopic? read their expressions. Yet employees of two prominentbusinesses soon learned that laughter can help to drive a pointhome even one as sensitive as HIV in the workplace.
The Community Health Services are helpingemployers and employees understand more about the HIV virus througha series of free workshops, with the long-term objective of supportingthe business sector in developing HIV/AIDS policies. Simply titledHIV in the Workplace, the sessions have been held at BarclaysBank as well as Cable and Wireless, and are offered to any companythat wishes to host them, says Health Promotion Officer SarahDiggle.
Along with Ms Diggle, Community Health'sSTD Co-ordinator Pauline Ffrench conducts the workshops. She oftenadds a little well-placed and tactful levity to the subject.
"Most persons are intimidated and morethan a little hesitant to talk about sexually transmitted diseases(STDs)," she explains. "In these sessions we use humour,which makes it all right to say what needs to be said includingthe hard-hitting facts." One of these is that seven personsin the Cayman Islands have been diagnosed this year with HIV (humanimmunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes acquired immunedeficiency syndrome, or AIDS.
Accordingly, while laughter has been provento help people remember what they have learned, Nurse Ffrenchalso hopes the participants will extract courage from the workshops.She acknowledges, "The message is definitely geared towardequipping individuals to protect themselves and their loved onesfrom HIV and AIDS.
"We also want to help people feel comfortableworking alongside an HIV-infected colleague and realise that theyare not at risk of contracting HIV through a working relationship.We must prevent discrimination against HIV infected persons inthe Cayman Islands."
Cable and Wireless considered the workshopsso vital that it mandated attendance for its 250-plus employees,including those on Cayman Brac. More than 200 have already participated,said Human Resources Manager Carla McLaughlin, the outcome ofwhich has been a policy tailored for Cable and Wireless CaymanIslands Ltd. The plan encompasses HIV/AIDS as well as other communicableand life-threatening diseases, and its broad scope gives managersclear guidelines to follow should an employee become infectedwith HIV.
"We agreed to host the workshops becausewe felt it important for employees to be informed," Mrs.McLaughlin remarks. "People need to understand certain facts,including that HIV and AIDS cannot be transmitted through casualcontact. This kind of education helps to remove barriers amongemployees and employers while fostering a stable, unified workforce."
Almost all of Barclays' 115 employees haveparticipated in the workshops, and with the assistance of CommunityHealth Services the bank is well underway to drafting its policy,said Ms Diggle. She and the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. KiranKumar, made the initial presentations that resulted in the twocompanies signing up for the workshops; Bank of Butterfield hasalso expressed its interest. Other employers who would like moreinformation should call Ms Diggle on 244-2632.