Thread by @BlueFawkes1

Starting my day of the #FastTrackScot is the "launch of the Scottish public attitudes to HIV report" with @markdiffley1 & @nathansparkling

Amazing to hear there were over 2000 responses to the survey!

And the fact that it was only completed in October is fantastic for keeping it up to date

First section was looking at awareness.

Over half the respondents initially said they thought they had good/very good knowledge of HIV.

Interesting to see the different percentages of people that believe different transmission methods of HIV.

It seems like currently it's the youngest people that are the least educated on HIV.

I certainly don't remember learning much about HIV in school...

It's also such a shame that people don't seem to know about #PrEP & #PEP & #UEqualsU

The next section is looking at personal attitude.

Happy to see that the majority of people would be comfortable having a HIV test but certainly more work to be done.

Interesting to see the attitudes of children being around other children living with HIV.

So sad to see that people still aren't comfortable kissing people that are HIV positive. (You can't catch HIV from kissing btw)

The next section looks at govt activity and societal perceptions.

Happy to see that people want to see continued govt investment in HIV awareness

Surprised to hear that those aged 65+ are slightly less likely to agree with the govt. Spending public funds on trying to prevent long term illnesses, like HIV.

A shame to see people being on the fence about whether Scotland is welcoming to those with HIV

The next section is HIV in the workplace.

Glad to see the majority of people would be comfortable working with someone living with HIV.

But sad to see that around half of the respondents believe that people with HIV face discrimination at work.

Happy that 60% of people don't think that their Employer should reveal if any of their co-workers are HIV positive.

The key predictors of awareness seem to be age and personal experience around HIV (if you know someone with HIV).

Moving into the Q&A section now.

Social class is not a significant predictor of awareness or attitudes - Mark

Asking about how to tackle the more discriminatory attitudes of the older generation whilst also educating the younger generation.

Did sexuality impact on responses? - Mark, "No, there aren't any real differences " (paraphrased)

Mark's recommendation is to target education of young people and target attitudes of older people.

This report will go up on the HIV Scotland website shortly.

Worth noting that this is the largest Scotland only survey that looks at HIV awareness & attitudes.

We should see this as the start of building a legacy of info.

The data set is attached to the report for those that want to dig deeper.

Mark is happy to be contacted to do further digging.

It was asked, "how do we make sure the answers are specific to HIV and not just generalised attitudes " - Mark says this is a valid question.

He suspects that if the question around HIV spending hadn't said about HIV then

He believes the older generation may have been more likely to agree with govt spending if it hadn't been focussed on HIV.

Q: who should people listen to in a world full of fake news?

A: people with lived experience

Q: what happens next?

A: the generation 0 campaign. The report can be used by anyone in the sector. Basically using the data collected to shape future campaigns. (Again I'm paraphrasing)

Attendant has asked if we could get a HIV specific person in job centres and provide more

Direct hands on support to employees and employers would be beneficial.

HIV Scotland has just gotten funding to take steps towards providing more support in a workplace setting. Looking forward to see what they release around this topic in the future.

This session is just wrapping up. It was fantastic to get that quick overview and I'm looking forward to the next session 😁