The ministry of caring impels us to be well-informed about AIDS and serve those with AIDS and their friends and family members. To learn more about being involved in a ministry of caring, read the full ELCA message on AIDS and the Church's Ministry of Caring, adopted by the ELCA Church Council in 1988.

Care of Caregivers provides suggestions for supporting those who care for those with AIDS. Stigma and Discrimination are barriers to a ministry of caring.

Care of Caregivers
Following are ways you can help support HIV/AIDS care givers:

• Keep in touch
  Maintain contact with family members. A card, call, or visit all mean a great deal. Family members, including the person with HIV/AIDS will benefit from your visits or calls. Continue to send cards, even if you don't get a response.
   
• Do little things
  Make extra food portions and drop off a meal (in a freezable or disposable container). Before doing your errands, check with a family member to see if there's anything they need. Surprise the care giver with a special treat, such as a rented movie, an audiotape of last week's church service or a gift certificate for a dinner out.
   
• Give them a break
  Offer to stay with the HIV/AIDS person so family members can run errands, attend a support group meeting, take a short trip, or have personal time at home. This gives the person with HIV/AIDS a break, also.
   
• Be specific when offering assistance
  Have the family prepare a "to do" list of hard-to-get-to projects (e.g., laundry, dusting, yard work, medical bills). Designate what you can do, then dedicate time on a regular basis to help the family with these tasks.
   
• Be alert
  Learn about HIV/AIDS and how it impacts the family. Know how to recognize a problem and respond. Take time to learn about other common behaviors and helpful care techniques.
   
• Provide a change of scenery
  Plan an activity that gets the entire family out of the house. Include the person with HIV/AIDS if the care giver feels it's appropriate. Invite the family to your house, a nearby park for a picnic, or make a reservation at a restaurant.
   
• Learn to listen
  Realize those affected by HIV/AIDS just need to talk sometimes. Encourage them to share how they are doing. You don't need to have all of the answers, just be a compassionate listener. Try not to ask questions or judge, but rather offer support and acceptance.
   
• Care for the care giver
  Encourage care givers to take care of themselves. Pass along useful information and offer to attend a support group meeting with them. Local HIV/AIDS agencies have information available and sponsor telephone "Helplines" and support groups.
   
• Remember all family members
  The person with HIV/AIDS will appreciate your visits, even if unable to show it. Spouses, adult children and even young grandchildren are all affected in different ways. Be attentive to their needs.
   
• Get involved
  There are many things you can do to help today and prevent further devastation tomorrow. Make a contribution to an HIV/AIDS agency and volunteer.
  

Challenging the Stigma and Discrimination of HIV/AIDS
What is Stigma and Discrimination?

Stigma and discrimination are barriers for being involved in a ministry of caring. Stigma devalues and discredits someone in the eyes of others. It reinforces social inequalities such as gender, race and ethnicity, and sexuality. Stigma becomes deeply rooted. Some religious thought on sin can suggest HIV infection is a punishment for doing something wrong. Placing blame is a key ingredient to sustaining stigma. When one group attributes blame onto another group that is “different,” distancing and absolving themselves from the problem occurs and hinders participation in a caring ministry.

Discrimination happens when stigma exists and results in certain types of actions. Exclusions and restrictions affecting people living with HIV occur when stigma exists and is acted upon by others, even if there is no justification for the action. Discrimination of a person living with HIV can happen in family and community settings through ostracizing, shunning and avoiding everyday contact, verbal harassment, physical violence, verbal discrediting and blaming, gossip, and denial of traditional funeral rites.

Discrimination can happen in institutional settings such as the workplace, health–care services, prison, educational institutions and social–welfare settings. A person living with HIV may receive a reduced standard of health care and breach of confidentiality by health care workers. Denial of employment in the work place or denial of entry into a school setting are other examples of institutional discrimination.

When discrimination happens at a national level, it reflects stigma that has been officially sanctioned through laws, policies, and practices. It can become a vicious cycle as it leads to increased stigmatization and legitimizes discrimination. It also occurs through omission. This happens when there is an absence of, or failure to implement, laws, policies, and practices that safeguard the rights of people living with HIV.

How to Challenge Stigma and Discrimination
Whether implementing projects, programs, and activities directly or by more indirectly creating supportive and enabling environment, the stigma and discrimination related to HIV can be challenged. Following are a few indicators of success in a variety of settings:

• increased willingness of relatives and community members to care for HIV–positive people;
• increased willingness of community members to volunteer in HIV prevention and AIDS care programs;
• increased access to, and uptake of, treatment;
• increased willingness on the part of health workers to deal constructively with people living with HIV;
• increased openness of HIV positive employees about their status;
• increased willingness of employees to work alongside people known to be living with HIV; and
• supportive HIV workplace policies and practice.

Information presented on this web page was taken from the UNAIDS publication, HIV–Related Stigma, Discrimination and Human Rights Violations.