Every person’s situation is different, and the pandemic demonstrated
again that even shared experiences have significantly different impacts
on people.
"We should never think about a community of people as entirely
vulnerable,” Wachtendorf said. “Although they contend with a lot of
vulnerability, there are many ways this community has shown strength to
overcome very difficult circumstances throughout 2020.”
As many COVID patients learned, stigma can be visited on anyone who
contracts a communicable disease. That sense of stigma is not new to
those living with HIV.
“We’ve always dealt with a lot of stigma,” Berl said. “And testing
has always been stigmatized. This is another virus that has stigmatized
other populations, including the Asian population. Hopefully,
normalizing testing will bring down some of these stigmas. Anything we
can do to break the stigma of HIV is important to us and to our
clients.”
With COVID-19 spreading quickly, many stopped going to
community-based testing sites that offered HIV testing. Testing was down
by more than 50%, Berl said.
But now that the need for COVID-19 testing is recognized as critical
for public health, why not have one-stop testing sites that cover
multiple conditions?
“We hope to see COVID testing sites evolve to where they test for
more than COVID,” Hines said. “We’re slowly getting to some kind of
normalcy, but we should take advantage of all of that testing and test
for opioids, hepatitis C, HIV. This study highlights the need to get
tested across the board for any and everything, not just for this
moment.”
Two doctoral students — Christopher Tharp and Nancy Rios-Contreras —
who conducted interviews for DRC said the experience was important for
them.
"During the interviews, I heard— and in many ways connected with—
feelings of deep isolation in the experiences recounted by the people
we spoke with,” Tharp said. “The isolation was often expressed through
stories of powerful, self-reliant resolve; but it was also often
expressed in stories of grief and even, sometimes, loneliness."
All of that helps to bring a global disaster into personal focus.
“The collaboration between the Delaware HIV Consortium and the
Disaster Research Center allowed me to explore how a global pandemic
connects to the local community experience,” Rios-Contreras said.
Direct quotations from some participants are sprinkled through the report.
One expressed the hope that has made the long struggle against COVID worthwhile.
“It’s a sacrifice worth taking [protective measures and isolating]
because I’m looking at the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m looking
at the end of the road. And I would rather be here and healthy, than
not.”
Wachtendorf found those words impressive.
“We’ve seen so many other people out in the community not taking
protective guidance seriously, not appreciating that their actions do
impact others,” she said. “The Delawareans living with HIV with whom we
spoke took COVID-19, as well as the responsibility to protect themselves
and others, very seriously."
Funding for the study was provided by the Delaware HIV Consortium and the Disaster Research Center.
About the researchers
Tricia Wachtendorf is director of the Disaster Research Center and
professor of sociology and criminal justice with a joint appointment in
the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration.
Nancy Rios-Contreras is a DRC-affiliated student and a doctoral
student in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and,
starting this fall, an assistant professor at Chapman University. Her
dissertation focuses on human migration, social vulnerability, and
violence.
Christopher Tharp is a DRC-affiliated student and a doctoral student
in the Department of Political Science and International Relations. His
dissertation explores the macroeconomic perspective of disaster —
specifically the financial debt crisis in the 21st century, Hurricane
Maria and coronavirus in Puerto Rico.
Article by Beth Miller
Photos courtesy of Army National Guard Capt. Brendan Mackie, Tricia Wachtendorf and Jordan Hines
Published May 10, 2021