More “Voices from the Front Line” - Emerson Miller
We have created a new series called “Voices From the Front Line” for our blog and Update our newsletter. With these profiles we’re letting you hear from AIDS Action’s people who do the work every day that prevents new infections and who connect people living with HIV to care, support and services In this installment we check in with Emerson Miller AAC’s Peer Support Coordinator.
Emerson joined the staff of AIDS Action about 18 months ago. In his role of Peer Service Coordinator, he works alongside a dedicated team to support the long term health and well being of our clients. We spoke briefly about his work:
When someone is newly diagnosed and comes to AAC for support, do you find that they have a good deal of information about HIV/AIDS already or are they starting from square one?
You know it really varies; each person has a unique set of circumstances that brings them to seek our services – so it’s difficult to answer without acknowledging that. I will say though, I am seeing a higher number of people who are presenting sick. In other words, people seeking support for their new knowledge of their HIV status but at the same time, dealing with an immediate health issue as well. Facing a difficult health situation often makes the job of counseling more challenging, as the client usually has a more immediate need to get healthy. At the same time we also work with them to get them involved with the Peer Support programs.
How prevalent is misinformation amongst our clients about HIV/AIDS?
Again, especially with our Newly Diagnosed Group, I see some misinformation. As some members had gone to the doctor for a health issue that initially they wouldn’t attribute to HIV, their positive diagnosis is often unexpected. And being unexpected, it comes with a lot of questions, oftentimes pretty basic ones.
How and where do you steer people who approach AIDS Action for support?
We have eight different support groups that our team runs here at AAC as well as being able to offer individual counseling around mental health and substance abuse issues. Heidi Bright who is our Manager of Peer and Clinical Programming is amazing, while Pat Regan does a great job with the coordination of the individual counseling requests. Additionally we have 5 volunteer group facilitators and have recently added two new limited part time paid positions for peer advocates who are HIV positive. Our department also acts as a resource to provide information about the variety of other support options that exist in the Greater Boston and Metro West areas. Once someone approaches us for help, it’s the job of our team to work with that client to get them support; either getting them involved with one of our groups, or with a group run by another organization that might be easier for them to access.
Are their studies that show the importance of peer support groups?
A great number of studies have been done that looked at the positive impact groups can have for people facing health challenges. When one conducted by Suffolk University was presented at the Planning Council a while ago, it showed that the overall health of group participants was 200% better than those that did not utilize peer support. That’s an amazing statistic.
In a world where budget and staff weren’t an issue, how much would you like to see the Peer Services programs expanded?
Obviously, without funding issues, I’d like to see ALL of the programs at AAC expanded and our services and prevention efforts available to everyone that would seek them out. In the short term though, I’d really like to be able to add more meetings of all of our support groups, especially the Newly Diagnosed Group – presently we offer a series of three weekly meetings for that group every other month. If the need is there, I’d like to see that group be able to meet every month.
How about volunteers, are there opportunities within the Peer Services area for someone who has some free time and wants to help out?
We do get a lot of requests from graduate and undergraduate students who are studying mental health and counseling and want to do work with our groups, helping out while gaining experience and exposure to working with clients. But the vast majorities are only looking for a short term commitment and that’s just not beneficial to a group that only meets weekly or in some cases, only once or twice a month. It’s important that it be a consistent ongoing experience for the members of the group. We do have a great need for someone that has administrative skills to help us out though, just 20 hours a week would help out the entire Peer Support team tremendously with the basic computer and office tasks we need to keep on top of all the time.
Two other programs of the Peer Services Department are the Community Lunches meeting as well as the Whole Health Forum Dinner meeting. Tell me about those monthly get-togethers.
The Community Lunches group is really an amazing program. It’s very informal and totally run by the participants, who are HIV positive. We provide a great lunch and the forum is wide open for discussion of any and all topics. At the conclusion of each month’s lunch, we poll those in attendance and have the group set a topic that they’d like to discuss for the next lunch. In March, the group asked for a focus on spirituality at the lunch in April, so we worked to set that up.
The other program, a more structured meeting, is the Whole Health Forum which is a dinner program that we call “Beyond the Numbers”. This forum evolved from one of our weekly long term survivors’ groups. Here the group gathers for a presentation by a noted medical professional or expert on a topic and then there is a roundtable dinner and discussion focused on specific and general health issues. The programs are fascinating and members of this group are not exclusively those living with HIV/AIDS. It’s an opportunity for all of us to learn more and I really encourage everyone to attend sometime.
What power do our clients find in our support groups?
It seems simple, but the idea of “I am not alone” seems to be one of the most important things that many take away from a support group meeting. We recently had a member of our Men’s Support Group who was hospitalized for AIDS related cancer. This group of 10-15 guys has grown very close in the course of their time together. As this client was being released from the hospital, he really needed to feel that he could go home after such an emotionally and physically demanding time. But with no real family to turn to, instead of going home to an empty apartment, he came directly from the hospital to the group meeting that evening. The group is his family, and he was not alone because of them.
Check out our last profile on AAC’s longest-term staff member, Chris Wittke.
