Project history  

HIV and AIDS in the UK primarily affects those already facing discrimination and exclusion namely, men who have sex with men and people from sub Saharan Africa, in a predominantly rural location such as Lancashire the global challenges of stigma, fear of disclosure, identification and isolation are amplified.

Additionally the environment surrounding HIV and AIDS has changed dramatically over the past decade with the advent of medications; this meant that rather than providing support services the dying or bereaved, services had to change their focus to helping people living with HIV to live full and productive lives with all the challenges that now posed.

As a result many support services and indeed some of the public allowed HIV and AIDS to slip from the agenda so that in comparison to the standards and developments within drug services, for example, the development of HIV and AIDS services were being left behind.

In 2005 John Moores University (JMU) and George House Trust (GHT) carried out a user and provider consultation on the needs of people with HIV/AIDS and their carer’s resident in Lancashire for Lancashire County Council.

As a result the JMU/GHT study found that social support services for people affected by HIV and AIDS in Lancashire were inconsistent both in quantity and quality, with some areas of the county receiving scant if any support services at all.