This page is for Kaimahi. Kaimahi is any person providing essential, day-to-day support to others, paid or voluntary.
The support we offer people may include personal care like showering and toileting, help with taking medication, serving, and preparing meals, taking people to appointments, and cleaning to name just a few.
As Kaimahi, we are responsible for supporting people holistically. This means physical, mental/emotional, spiritual health and wellbeing) in people’s homes, in the community, in hospice, or a specialist care facilities like residential aged care.
The HIV community has shared this collection of knowledge with aroha love and appreciate what we do for the people we serve in our communities. Let us take our time to learn and understand these resource and share with others who may also benefit. If you have not already, check out the introduction page to understand how this website is presented, and why.
Topics on this page:
Understanding what HIV is
Understanding basic information about HIV can help reduce stigma and ensure everyone knows there is no risk when caring for someone living with HIV.
In Aotearoa, HIV is now considered a manageable, chronic illness. HIV medication allows people living with HIV to lead longer and healthier lives and there is no risk to us as Kaimahi.
What is HIV and AIDS, how is HIV managed and how is HIV passed on?
Regardless of our title, we provide essential, day-to-day support to others.
Important facts about caring for someone living with HIV:
People living with HIV can live just as long as someone who does not have HIV.
HIV cannot be passed on through day-to-day contact like hugging, kissing, sharing cups and eating utensils.
We do not need to treat people living with HIV any differently to anyone else we are caring for.
We need to use good hygiene practice and understand when to use standard precautions for infection control, whether the person is living with HIV, or not.
People living with HIV do not have to share their HIV status with us or any other medical professional. Information about a person’s HIV or other health conditions needs to be kept private and confidential.
