The statistics are clear - if you're physically able to work, it's good for you. David Terry talks to four pos people - and a boss - about work choices
If you're physically able and can get a job, it's probably
better to work than not to work. For parents, carers, or those denied
benefits, there may be no alternative to work. But other poz people may
ask: "How do I know working won't ruin my health?"
Well, you won't know till you try.
That's not to deny there are real problems in returning to work. How do
you explain the gap in your employment record? Do you come out with HIV
to your manager or colleagues? Will they make allowances for illness,
clinic checkups or drug side effects? Is it worth it financially?
Daniel Storer is 28 and has been with
Impact, an arts marketing firm, for two years. "I wanted to work
to feel good about myself," he says. Daniel tested positive ten years
ago. "I had been kicked out of home and there was no direction to
my life," he recalls. Life drifted. He partied, lived off the dole
and
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watched TV.
Then five years ago Daniel fell in love and travelled: "I met professional
people; my confidence grew." It gave him courage to think about finding
a job.
TV interested him in interior design. He went to college and learned more.
"It was scary. I was taking baby steps into work. But I wanted a
better social life and had to get serious."
He got involved with Positive Futures (PF). "It impressed me that
they hardly mentioned HIV. They looked at me in no uncertain terms with
a job agency attitude."
An interview was set up for a voluntary work placement at the PR agency
Impact. It was clear this
would be a real interview. "If you don't fit you
don't get in," warned PF.
But he was taken on as a marketing assistant, three days
a week - all he was allowed to do
