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Resources and Publications
Our resources are aimed at building and enhancing supportive connections for women with HIV. We have resources for women living with HIV and for health care and social services providers.
Links to epidemiological info
British Columbia
Statistics and Research (BC Centre for Disease Control)
Canada
Fast facts: Epidemiology in Canada (CATIE)
The epidemiology of HIV in females (CATIE)
HIV/AIDS Epidemiological Information (Public Health Agency of Canada)
Publications for Subscription
The Positive Side is our newsletter for women with HIV and service providers. It includes stories from positive women, treatment and support news, and events. Subscribers receive the newsletter in paper or electronic format. You can view the newsletter archives here.
HIV Trends and Women’s Sexual Health Report is a compilation of current scientific and social news related to HIV with a focus on women and girls. Subscribers receive the report via email. You can view the report archives here.
Resources for Order or Download
Pocket Guide for Women Living With HIV
This updated second version of the pocket guide provides basic and easy-to-read information about HIV for newly diagnosed women:
- where to start: HIV basics, how HIV affects women, finding a doctor
- living with HIV: treatments, alternative therapies, pregnancy, injection drugs, hepatitis C, nutrition
- HIV and relationships: disclosure, safer sex, motherhood, children with HIV
You can order the pocket guide through CATIE or download a PDF version here. The pocket guide is also available for download in French.
Pocket Guide on Aging for Women Living With HIV
Due to advances and improved access to treatment, many women with HIV in Canada are living longer. With aging comes changes in health. This pocket guide is designed for the following:
- women who have lived with HIV for ten years or more
- women who are going through perimenopause or in menopause
- women who are over 40 years old and newly diagnosed
- caregivers and community supports to aging positive women
The pocket guide addresses a range of issues woman can experience as they age:
- physical changes: menopause and bone, heart, and brain health
- social changes: changing shapes, sexual well-being, abuse in relationships, spiritual connections
You can order the pocket guide through CATIE or download a PDF version here
How Do People Get HIV or Hepatitis C?
This simple 8 x 11″ poster provides basic transmission information about HIV and hepatitis C.
It can be printed off and posted wherever needed. Download print, and share.
HIV and Pregnancy: Yes You Can
Learn about a healthy pregnancy with HIV.
This brochure includes information about getting pregnant, HIV treatment during pregnancy, delivery options, and newborn testing. It also unfolds into an 11 x 17″ poster.
Available only for download.
Retreat Planning Toolkit
This guide is for groups planning retreats for positive women, which Positive Women’s Network has offered for over twelve years. The guide contains ideas on
- budgeting
- policies and promotion
- group dynamics
- nutritional and health considerations
- workshop programming and more
Download a PDF copy here.
Additional Sexual Health Support
In addition to this site, we provide information on general sexual health specifically for women in midlife and beyond. Divorced and dating again? Feel you missed out on HIV prevention 101 when you were married? No problem—we’ve got your info at You Should Know.
Past Research Projects and Reports
Leadership, Engagement, Action and Dialogue (LEAD): The purpose of the LEAD project was for Positive Women’s Network to work with women living with HIV in British Columbia and local AIDS service organizations to examine what was working well in communities and to identify gaps in service delivery. The project was coordinated by Emily Quinn and funded by Vancouver Foundation and Public Health Agency of Canada’s AIDS Community Action Program. Read the LEAD Final Report.
Women’s Initiatives for Support and Education (WISE): The WISE project, a partnership of Positive Women’s Network and YouthCO AIDS Society, was aimed at young women living with HIV and young women at risk for HIV. Barriers in Access to Primary Health Care for Young HIV+ Women (2008) reflected the qualitative research into the issues and best practices to improve access to care.
Listen Up!: This multi-stage community-based research project (1999-2003) examined how social factors increase women’s risk for HIV infection and illness progression. Women living with and affected by HIV were involved in the design, development, and implementation of this research as advisors, peer researchers, and participants.
Reports on Phases 1-4 outline women’s perceptions and realities of risk factors for HIV transmission and progression of the illness. Information is yielded from two peer-based phases and two community action phases involving the work of women across differing racial, cultural, and health status groups in BC’s Lower Mainland. Work in the final phase included women in rural BC and the creation of an HIV/AIDS Action Plan for Women.
Download Listen Up! Phase 1 Report (795KB PDF).
Download Listen Up! Phase 2 Report (776KB PDF).
Download Listen Up! Phases 3 & 4 Report (306KB PDF).
Download Escuche! Listen Up! [Spanish version] (676KB PDF).