Melina Afzal
Pangborn Hall Room G024
Friday April 7
9am to noon  3 CE credits

Registration

Registration closed - course full.

The ABC’s of HIV for Social Workers

Washington DC has the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the United States. For the Nation’s Capitol, we are still in the midst of an epidemic, nearly 32 years later. Social workers experienced the depth of HIV disease from the beginning. We were and still are in the front lines of addressing the complex and multifaceted psychosocial issues. We are educators, activists, advocates and support for those infected and affected. As HIV has moved from a death sentence to a chronic disease so have the understanding, perception and behaviors.

The intentions and purpose of The ABC’s of HIV for Social Workers workshop is for social workers to be comfortable interpersonally and intrapersonally in discussing HIV. The first step is to learn the basics of HIV. Participants will learn about transmission, prevention, testing options. Then participants will learn the pathology of HIV and AIDS. To solidify the basics, participants will learn to identify risky behaviors and discuss prevention with clients. Participants will also gain insight into the personal impact of HIV/AIDS as well as the role of stigma. This is an interactive workshop which includes lecture, video and group discussion.  Specific language and sex toys will be used at times to demonstrate prevention tools.

Melina Afzal brings 22 years of experience in HIV prevention and treatment. Her journey started as a college intern at the DC AIDS Information Line at Whitman Walker Clinic. This lead to path of activism, advocacy and community organizing with a special focus on disenfranchised populations, such as women, substance users and sex workers. She then went to receive her Masters in Social Work in 2000 from the University of Virginia. From 2000 – 20004 she provided clinical case management for dual and triple diagnosed adults at Community Connections in Washington D.C. She has worked on needle exchange access and policy, was a member of Community AIDS Partnership and has assisted in a prevention project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Currently MS. Afzal resides in the Nation’s Capital and is the Clinical Director of Regional Addiction Prevention, Inc. along with a renal social worker part time. To balance being a social worker, she owns an entertainment company.