CAN (LET’S) continues with our participation on the Stigma Assessment Cycle project. We participate in meetings to discuss how best to address stigma. The project is a response to community calls to action for stigma reduction advocacy in British Columbia. The goal of this three-year project is to support organizations to learn where their programs and services may inadvertently be contributing to stigma and discrimination and identify opportunities and actions for change. The project will improve organizational practices and policies related to stigma and discrimination experienced by people who access services, including those with lived and living experience of HIV and/or hepatitis C, people who use drugs, and people living with mental health, or substance use issues. The team will work to identify and address where colonialism, stigma and discrimination intersect.
This will be a learning cycle to support organizations, not shame their work or people. It will be based on an assessment process and creation of tools and resources – including a peer-based surveyor team – for organizations to discuss areas of potential improvement related to stigma and discrimination, gather data to support learning, and provide mechanisms for action planning to implement real change. We recognize that stigma is multi-dimensional, and change is an ongoing process, so the cycle approach will help organizations to learn, apply new insights, and assess degrees of change in an ongoing way. The project is led by Pacific Aids Network (PAN) and guided by people with lived/living experiences along with community organizations and allies working in community services in BC. CAN (LET’S) is proud to be a part of this project!