Community & Emotional Wellness

WHAI is working with communities across Ontario to foster social connection and emotional wellness amongst women living with or facing systemic risk for HIV.

About Social Determinants of Health

The Impact of Community and Emotional Wellness

Centring Women’s Experiences

What is WHAI Doing?

FAQ

Tools & Resources

ABOUT SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Social determinants of health are the social and economic factors that can influence an individual's health.

These include income and income distribution, education, unemployment and job security, employment and working conditions, early childhood development, disability, food insecurity, housing, social exclusion, social safety network, health services, race, immigration status, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

The social determinants of health can contribute to health inequalities for individuals and communities, making some women more likely to contract HIV, and resulting in poor health outcomes for many people living with HIV.

Over %

Among women who attend specialty HIV care clinics, most are engaged in care, according to the OHTN Cohort Study data. Most women diagnosed with HIV in Ontario are also virally suppressed, but at rates slightly lower than men. Women with lower incomes and women struggling with mental health or substance use face barriers to engaging with HIV care and treatment.

Women and HIV in Ontario: The Facts in Brief (OHTN, 2015)opens in a new window

During community consultations, women from 100% of our WHAI partner regions reported Community and Emotional Wellness as an important issue among women living with and facing systemic risk for acquiring HIV.

Collective Action Community Change: A Provincial Situational Analysis Report by the Women & HIV/AIDS Initiativeopens in a new window

THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITY AND EMOTIONAL WELLNESS

Community and emotional wellness generate strength and resiliency that support positive health outcomes for women living with and at systemic risk for HIV.

In WHAI's Community Consultations, women talked about their experiences of violence, trauma, stigma, discrimination, economic insecurity, and more, all factors that can contribute to poor health outcomes. Women also talked about the importance of supportive and welcoming community spaces to build their strength and ultimately improve their health.

CENTRING WOMEN'S EXPERIENCES

“We need supportive spaces where women can share and learn from each other's stories."

— Participant in Women are Changemakers Project, Ontario

"Women don't have spaces where we can connect and talk about the issues that impact us... we need this."

— Woman facing systemic risk, Ontario

WHAT IS WHAI DOING?

WHAI works with community partners to build community capacity for social connectedness, emotional wellness, and improved health outcomes for women living with, or facing systemic risk of, HIV.

WHAI's approach to community development aims to increase community control over social determinants of health to improve health outcomes.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does Community and Emotional Wellness work look like?

This work addresses institutional stigma and discrimination by creating welcome and inclusive spaces. It fosters work that is modelled after "Nothing About Us Without Us" and the "Meaningful Involvement of People living with HIV." Although it is broad and varied, it is founded on the leadership of women with lived experience and the importance of centring and fostering women's leadership. Some examples from WHAI work across Ontario include book clubs, card making, beading, painting, button making, and cooking gatherings. This work creates space for women to share their experiences, strength, and resiliency with each other and others in the community, increased engagement between women with lived experience and service providers, and fosters a sense of community and emotional wellness.

What is GIPA and MIPA?

GIPA and MIPA stands for the Greater / Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV. Many AIDS Service Organizations across Ontario have signed on to the Ontario Accord, a statement created by the Ontario AIDS Network, substantiating their commitment to the leadership of people living with HIV. WHAI, like these organizations, is committed to the involvement of women with lived experience, in all of our work. WHAI is working to foster community capacity across Ontario so that women with lived experience have opportunities to participate in all areas of our work.

Resources

FIND SUPPORT NEAR YOU

Toolkit, WHAI Resource

Women, HIV & Stigma: A Toolkit for Creating Welcoming Spaces

This toolkit provides practical tips, tools and strategies to help community organizations build welcoming spaces.

Art Project, Toolkit, WHAI Resource

Love Positive Women Implementation Guide

An implementation guide for the global Love Positive Women project that demonstrates love and care for women living with HIV.

WHAT CAN WE HELP YOU FIND?