BLOG: Youth voices on HIV: Workshops with local high students

by Jaime Garcia-Iglesias | Chancellor's Fellow, Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society

HIV remains an important public health priority in the UK and in Scotland. However, HIV-related stigma is a barrier to people seeking testing and treatment. This is particularly acute among younger people, with latest data showing that rates of HIV testing have fallen among young people. 

With this in mind, a team from the Centre from Biomedicine, Self and Society led by myself and the BioQuarter Education and Community Manager, Dom Cairns-Gibson, organised a series of workshops to engage young people in learning about HIV, fighting stigma and - at the same time - learn more about the University. This was also supported by a medical student, Azeem Merchant. 

The workshops involved two groups of 16-17 year-old high school students from both Castlebrae Community Campus (a state school in an area experiencing high levels of deprivation) and the other from George Watson’s College (a fee-paying/private school). A total of 18 students were involved, supported by their Psychology teachers. 

What we did

The project involved four interactive workshops delivered at the Usher Building. The first session covered HIV basics and stigma ‒ explaining what HIV is, how it’s transmitted, and harmful myths. In the second and third session, students looked at real historical HIV campaigns and discussed what makes an effective message, and then put their knowledge into action by designing their own HIV awareness posters. In addition, they were able to tour the Usher Building and learn about research and academia, with a talk delivered by Olivia Swann, a paediatrician and researcher.

Creative posters 

The highlight of the project was seeing students from both schools work together to design bright, creative posters that promote HIV awareness.

Most groups chose to emphasise prevention and testing, crafting slogans and visuals about the importance of getting tested and using protection. One poster centred on the slogan “Get Tested to Stay Protected”.

Another explained that “It [HIV] can happen to anyone, even superheroes: get tested.”  Students explained: “Why superheroes? Because the message is to be brave enough to go to the doctor and get tested and not be embarrassed/insure about it. It shows that anyone can get HIV.”

Other groups focused on stigma. One poster shows human silhouettes with the message “You’re not alone” and the caption that “113.500 people live with HIV in the UK.” Students explained that: “The emphasis of the word ‘alone’ in the message highlights that many people live with HIV, and that it is not something unusual or shameful to feel isolated by.”

Another poster portrays two doors: one representing stigma as a cliff, with the message “HIV doesn’t kill, but stigma does.” The students explained: “this poster symbolises that HIV stigma stems from fear and discrimination. This also leads to isolation of people living with HIV. Ending stigma promotes equality, inclusion”.

Results: Knowledge Up, Stigma Down

Beyond the posters, the workshops yielded tangible changes in the students’ knowledge and attitudes. Student’s own self-perception of their knowledge about HIV increased from 43% before the workshops to 71% after.

This matched their actual objective knowledge about prevention, transmission and life with HIV: it increased from 59% to 85%. In other words, the students left with a much stronger grasp of the topic. 

Their feedback emphasised that they “learned that HIV doesn’t kill” and “about the wide range of treatments available for HIV.” 

Just as importantly, stigma scores decreased across the board. Measured through a set of statements reflecting common stigmatising attitudes, the average stigma score dropped from 0.24 (pre-workshop) to 0.15 (post-workshop), indicating a shift toward more understanding and acceptance. 

Students also became more comfortable talking about HIV: this increased from 65% to 79%. 

Another aim of the project was to spark interest in higher education, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. After the workshops, nearly all the participants expressed that they were considering or definitely planning to attend university in the future. 

Overall, students explained that they enjoyed “the tour of the building,” “learning about HIV” and “working with new people.”