On March 15th and 16th, the PANCAP/K4Health partnership hosted the Collaborating and Learning towards Treat All Share Fair in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The Share Fair included 57 national AIDS program (NAP) managers and civil society organization (CSO) representatives from 18 countries in the region, including USAID priority countries Jamaica, Barbados, Suriname, Guyana and The Bahamas. Its main goal was to share examples of successful interventions being applied in the region in the HIV response. Session themes included tackling HIV treatment adherence, HIV testing, stigma and discrimination, linkage to care, integration of services, and CSO/NAP manager collaboration. All sessions were organized to show how these topics contribute to achieving the 90-90-90 goals and getting countries to Treat All. Several participatory knowledge exchange approaches were used to enhance the sharing and learning among those in the room including storytelling, panel conversations, human spectrum exercises, conversation cafés, and a fish bowl exercise.
Proverb Exercise & Expectation Board
A proverb exercise was used as an icebreaker to start the Share Fair. Each table of participants was asked to discuss their favorite country or regional proverb and decide which one related best to the HIV response and Treat All. The tables shared and explained their selected proverb and through a level of applause, participants selected their favorite proverb.
An expectation board was used to gauge what participants expected to get out of the Share Fair experience. Those expectations were shared at the beginning and revisited at the conclusion of the event, to reflect on if participants learned what they expected from this event.
The event included a particularly powerful approach that received great praise from participants which was coined in the event as “Close Up.” During these series of inspiration storytelling talks, presenters shared on several topics related to HIV, providing a more personal approach to sharing on the HIV response in the region.
Close Up with Kevin
Belize
An inspirational storytelling talk on youth and HIV, with a focus on men who have sex with men (MSM).
Close Up with Nikkiah
The Bahamas
An inspirational storytelling talk on women, girls, and HIV.
Human Spectrum Exercise
A human spectrum exercise was used to discover similarities and differences within the group and to get a spectrum of comments on an issue. Participants were asked to line up on a 5-point scale based on their feelings along the spectrum on a specific question. The session facilitators engaged participants along the scale and asked them to explain their position.
Question: Do you agree that we are ready to move to Treat All despite the challenges that we face with adherence?
Panel Conversation: Tackling Adherence
A panel conversation method was used to hear the perspectives from participants from four countries on how they are addressing adherence in their context. Each panelist spoke for ten minutes, telling a story from their work and also replying, when applicable, to those comments that had been expressed during the human spectrum exercise. The floor was then opened to other participants to share comments and ask questions to the panelists.
Facilitators from Trinidad and Tobago and Belize.
Members of the PANCAP Knowledge Management Working Group and other selected participants were coached prior to the event in order to lead and facilitate the sessions of the Share Fair.
Panelists from Haiti, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Discussion and Q&A
Conversation Cafés
Conversation cafés were used to have calm and profound conversations on commonly faced challenges in the regional and national HIV response. Using a talking object, participants were asked to share and listen to one another's thoughts and reflect together on a shared challenge with the goal of developing key takeaways on how to act and share information on the specific challenge going forward. The conversation cafés were facilitated by Share Fair participants and focused on:
- Testing
- Stigma & Discrimination
- Linkage to Care
- Integration of Services
- Adherence
- CSO/NAP Manager Collaboration
Skills-building Session
We conducted a skills-building session to orient participants to three online programs that can be used to visually synthesize information and to improve engagement and monitoring of meetings. An introduction to Piktochart, Poll Everywhere, and Adobe Spark was given followed by hands-on experience.
Panelists from Saint Lucia, Suriname, Dominican Republic, and Barbados.
Discussion and Q&A
Human Spectrum Exercise
Question: Do you agree that the region can achieve Treat All by 2020?
Close Up with Allyson
Barbados
An inspirational storytelling talk on how media engagement works.
Fish Bowl Exercise
Stigma & Discrimination
The fish bowl exercise provided a powerful platform to showcase the importance of addressing stigma and discrimination in the regional HIV response. In this emotional session facilitated by a Share Fair participant and expert in stigma and discrimination, Share Fair participants shared their own feelings and experience with this challenging societal issue.
PANCAP KM Working Group Meeting
The PANCAP KM Working Group was able to hold its first in-person meeting as the majority of its members were present at the Share Fair. Most of the members also played a role in helping plan and facilitate the Share Fair.
The Fun
Fun, energetic, and participatory activities were used throughout the event to keep the engagement of participants. Participants played, danced, and enjoyed each other's company.
At the conclusion of the event, participants were asked to share one thing they will act on when they return to their country, based on what they learned at the Share Fair. Responses ranged from ensuring that Treat All becomes a reality to tackling stigma and discrimination through sensitization of healthcare professionals and media campaigns to using the documentation of best practices produced by the PANCAP-K4Health partnership to trying out the new programs introduced in the skills building session.
Thank you to all of the Share Fair participants for their engagement!
Thank you to the organizers for hosting a successful Share Fair! For step-by-step guidance on planning your own Share Fair, browse K4Health’s Knowledge Management Collection.
This publication is made possible by the support of the American People through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project (AID-OAA-A-13-00068). The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, PEPFAR, USAID, or K4Health.
Photographer: Zwade Studio