Blog 24: Independent Component 2

I, Carly Griffin, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work."


I chose to spend both of my independent components completing additional service learning hours at Straight Talk, Inc. with my service learning mentor, Shelly Lummus. 


I knew that when I first started doing service learning in the office of Straight Talk, I would need to earn a lot of trust with the administrators of Straight Talk in order to be granted access into the actual rehabilitation houses with the patients I was studying. For this particular component, I logged 36.5 hours of service learning, a majority of which was completed at Gerry House in Santa Ana with Mrs. Lummus supervision. While there, I was able to see how the patients responded to certain treatments. While I was not able to work directly with any patients for privacy and safety reasons, a few of the counselors were able to share new counseling techniques they were trying out and how patients were responding.  


Being able to see how differently patients would respond to similar treatments led me to choose my second answer, tailoring a treatment plan to fit the individual needs of a patient, as my best answer. Before completing this independent component, I thought that my first answer, offering counseling and testing services to the patient, their partners, and their family, was my best answer. Having this amazing opportunity to see how real-life patients were each so drastically unique really changed the way I viewed my answers to my essential question. 


Log of Hours 

Blog 22: Answer Three

The most effective way to treat an HIV+ patient in drug rehab is by ensuring that patient meticulously follows a prescribed antiretroviral treatment plan. 


Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) are the drugs used by medical professionals to help keep patients' HIV under control. Of course, there is no sure for HIV, but antiretrovirals have the ability to greatly prolong the life of a patient with HIV when taken correctly. Currently, patients typically receive a combination of at least three HAART medications that inhibit viral replication of the HIV. In the absence of HAART, progression from HIV infection to AIDS has been observed to occur at a median of between nine to ten years and the median survival time after developing AIDS is only 9.2 months. The reasons for non-adherence and non-persistence with HAART are varied and overlapping. Major psychosocial issues, such as poor access to medical care, inadequate social supports, psychiatric disease and drug abuse contribute to non-adherence. The complexity of these HAART regimens, whether due to pill number, dosing frequency, meal restrictions or other issues along with side effects that create intentional non-adherence also contribute to this problem. 


Whatever the reason, lack of strict adherence to the HAART program results in ineffective treatment. The virus will continue to mutate and replicate until it becomes resistent to any form of management.

Without fail, my service learning experiences continued to be my main source in developing my third answer. Other sources, like Wikipedia, Aidsinfonet.org, Thebody.com, and Avert.com allowed me to see the HAART programs from a more medical viewpoint. 

Blog 21: 3-Column Chart

Chart

Blog 20: Room Creativity

1. I have been thinking about how I can make the classroom have a medical-like feel or a rehab center feel. In other words, I was thinking about putting up as much white around the room as possible to make it look "sterile", or I was going to give it a more inviting, "home-y" feel, like the rehab houses have. Obviously, I am still very unsure as to how this will be addressed.


2. I was hoping to repeat my activity that I used for 20-minute (the note card transmission) because I think my classmates really grasped the idea that my activity was trying to portray. It is difficult to come up with more exciting, educating ideas..

Blog 19: Answer Two

The most effective way to treat an HIV+ patient in drug rehab is by tailoring a treatment plan to fit the specific needs of each patient in any given facility.


Obviously, people are more willing to respond to anything that is geared specifically towards them, the individual. When it comes to an issue as touchy as HIV and drug rehabilitation, knowing that the plan you are following was created especially for you, you are more likely to follow it, as it becomes easier to see a successful ending. Also, each patient in a drug rehabilitation facility has their own story of why they got there in the first place, which means they each need their own way to ensure never having to come back to rehab. As an administrator, you must realize that coming up with one master plan to crank patients out of your facility will hurt the patient (and society), as you have no way of knowing whether or not you've addressed the specific reason the patient came to your facility in the first place. Relationships must be formed between patients and those administering treatment to make sure the patient gets the most help out of their stay. 


My service learning at Straight Talk, Inc. was, again, the biggest help in determining my second answer. Also, fact sheets from Aidsinfonet.org and the CDC have been extremely helpful in better understanding the many answers to my essential question.  

Blog 18: The Product

So far, the best definition of my product from the senior project has to be my newly acquired ability to be able to look at each individual I come into contact with, and not judge them by what I know about them and/or their past, but allow them a clean slate in my mind. In other words, when most people think about HIV+ patients in a drug rehab facility, it is customary to immediately think down upon them. This is nobody's fault, it's simply how society has groomed us to behave. Being able to overcome this in my mind is something that I have hoped for since the first day I looked into studying this topic, as I knew it would give be the best insight into how I can help these people turn their lives around. Now, when I walk into the rehabilitation centers to do service learning, I subconsciously take on the same mindset that comes with waking into the grocery store or college classroom - these people are just like me, and they each have something new to offer, all they need is a chance. 


Obviously, it is difficult to provide evidence that supports something like this. Honestly, I feel as though my many hours volunteering at Straight Talk Counseling, Inc. should show that I am in a setting that leaves me comfortable enough to come back for more. 

Blog 17: Fourth Interview Questions

1. Do you find it difficult to interact with HIV+ people?
2. What do you think about stigmas attached to HIV+ drug rehab patients?
3. Have there been any particular stories you have heard that really caught your attention?
4. Do you think many patients who have HIV know how they contracted it?
5. Do you think many patients who have HIV knows how HIV spreads?
6. Do many HIV+ patients believe their status is a death sentence?
7. Do you think many patients who have HIV may have been able to avoid contracting it if they had more knowledge on the nature of the virus?
8. Do you think many patients with HIV are cautious about spreading their virus with others? Or do they appear to not care about the welfare of others?
9. What are some limitations an HIV+ person will have in attempting to live their everyday life?
10. Do most HIV+ people know what the general population thinks about HIV?
11. Are there certain qualities needed in a caregiver to successfully treat an HIV+ patient?
12. Are there certain qualities needed in a therapist to successfully counsel an HIV+ patient? 
13. Are there certain things that should be avoided when trying to treat an HIV+ patient?
14. Are there certain things that should be specifically addressed when trying to treat an HIV+ patient?
15. Do you think that most patients that leave your facility are ready to face the "real world"?
16. What special measures must be taken when it comes to patients that are placed into your facility due to court mandating?
17. How does your facility approach patients who are obviously unwilling to cooperate?
18. What types of education are required of those that work at the rehab houses?
19. Do you think that, in time, the world will become more or less accepting of those with HIV?
20. What are some basic signs a patient may show to let you know their treatment is working?