Susanne Nasewich is the coordinator of Saskatchewan HIV Strategy. Photo by Penny Smoke.
Susanne Nasewich, Coordinates the Saskatchewan HIV Strategy Committee which works with HIV/ AIDS clients in the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region.
By Penny Smoke
This is part 2 of a 4 part series following one woman’s journey through her HIV diagnosis. Danita Wapoosewyan is a 48-year-old woman originally from the Sakimay First Nation, near Kamsack. Her story of addiction is similar to numerous other cases in the urban Aboriginal community, where many live high risk lifestyles and deal with addiction. With a story of recovery Danita is giving a voice to an illness that is surrounded by stigma.
Susanne Nasewich knows who has HIV/AIDS in the Regina area, it’s her job.
Nasewich is the Coordinator for the Saskatchewan HIV Strategy, a program started in 2009, when stakeholders from all aspects of HIV/AIDS support services in the province came together to figure out how each group could benefit from the other.
Made up of practitioners, nurses, support groups and frontline workers the Saskatchewan HIV Strategy committee discuss concerns and cases for the Regina Qu'appelle Health Region such as where clients are in their lives, and how the committee can help each on an individual basis.
“We work on case management with our clients and work closely with our partners because they are frontline, and may have a better relationship with clients,” said Nasewich.
“One of the things that has come out of case management it is a way for all of us health care providers to engage our clients. We sit down every two weeks and talk about clients who are having trouble engaging in care for whatever reason that may be, if their addiction is the driver or if housing is an issue, whatever it may be,” said Nasewich.
Mary, a registered nurse with the Regina Qu'appelle Health Region, who due to confidentiality reasons does not want her real named used, is one of the health care nurses who informs those who have tested positive.
“I don’t beat around the bush” Mary says of her approach “You have had this testing done and here is the result, because you're always scaring people when you.re tip-toeing around so I always show them the paper. It really is psychological. And I begin to tell them what this means is, you have a chronic infection it does not mean you are dying now. What it does mean is if we work together and you can take medication and you can live longer than me. I always try to be encouraging and let them know that it is a manageable disease” Mary says
Danita Wapoosewyan is one of the health region's clients. She now accepts her positive status and admits she wasn’t always as accepting, knowing first hand the challenges of dealing with addiction.
For Wapoosewyan finding out that she was HIV positive was only the beginning of a long road. Like many others, Wapoosewyan struggled with addiction for years and attempted to go to drug and alcohol treatment, but admitted she wasn’t ready after three failed attempts.
“For me I can admit it I didn’t want to quit (drugs), I didn’t know how to quit… I wasn’t ready. It was my crutch and I knew that I used it to cover up my shame. You do all the foot work and all the other times I didn’t know how to do that.” says Wapoosewyan “It’s like a light bulb, either you get it or you don’t. Before I was doing it because the (social) workers wanted me to do it.”
It was her fourth round at treatment and this time Wapoosewyan used her children as her motivation, but she is not ready to forget the path she has walked.
She remembers the day the nurses came to her door and can recalls the numb feeling that came over her when she was told she was HIV positive. After several attempts at getting clean, she over came her addiction to injection drugs and has now become an advocate for medication and traveling across the country to attend conferences sharing her story.
