Welsh and South West Young People’s Meet Up
Young people from across the South West and Wales met for a day event in Cardiff in May. These events always include a workshop style activity about growing up with HIV, some food, and a social activity chosen by the young people.
The young people had chosen trampolining! So ‘Supajump’ was where we found ourselves on a sunny summer’s day. After a sweaty hour of jumping, we made our way to a hotel in central Cardiff for lunch and the workshop session.
The majority in this group are now aged 16 or over and so have been talking a lot about transitioning to adult clinics with their doctors and nurses. As they all live in rural areas where there are not many other young people with HIV, they do not have the option of an adolescent clinic, which can sometimes bridge the gap between paediatrics and adults. The choice of adult clinics they can attend can be overwhelming; do they go to a sexual GUM clinic? Do they go to the same clinic as their parents? This workshop session was a good opportunity to review all these options and for those who have already transitioned to share what works for them. We also used some of the NHS ‘Ready Steady Go’ transition worksheets and the young people plan to take them to their clinics.
