Micaurys Guzm谩n, M.S.W.鈥�24, gave a presentation on providing care for Latinx people living with HIV at a summit at the White House in September. Courtesy photo.
It was September and social worker Micaurys Guzm谩n was describing how her team at a聽behavioral health center in Boston supports Latinx patients who are either living with HIV or at high risk for contracting the deadly virus.聽
Guzm谩n, director of recovery support services for ,聽was at the White House, and her audience included the director of the .
She was nervous, she recalls, but focused, explaining how her organization relies on a team of bilingual and bicultural clinicians, caseworkers, and medical experts to identify risks, manage their health, and explore treatment options for the disease.聽
Her presentation was part of a daylong aimed at accelerating the nation鈥檚 response to HIV in the Hispanic and Latinx communities, a scourge that has become more and more of a health crisis over the past several years.聽
While the total number of new HIV infections in the United States from 2018 to 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it among Hispanic and Latinx people during the same time period. And although Hispanic and Latinx people make up 19 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for 32 percent of all new HIV diagnoses in 2022.
鈥淭here is an urgent need to strengthen efforts to address the HIV epidemic in Latinx communities,鈥� says Guzm谩n, who graduated from the Advanced Standing M.S.W. program at the Boston College School of Social work in May. 鈥淲hen someone is living with HIV, it鈥檚 affecting their whole family and impacting quality of life not only for the individual who is sick, but also their loved ones as well.鈥澛�
Guzm谩n attributes the disproportionate prevalence of HIV in the Latinx聽 community to two primary factors: a lack of awareness of HIV prevention and stigma, a social phenomenon that, she says, prevents many Latinx people from getting tested and treated for disease. She favors targeted efforts to increase community awareness and knowledge of HIV, which is one of the reasons that she and her colleagues at Casa Esperanza offer peer education services as well as interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination.
Another way to reduce HIV-related stigma in the Latinx community, according to Guzm谩n, is to increase the number of practicing Latinx social workers through training programs such as BCSSW鈥檚 Latinx Leadership Initiative, which prepares students to help clients in the nation鈥檚 second largest ethnoracial group access culturally and linguistically appropriate education, social services, and healthcare.聽聽
Research shows that Latinx clients are more likely to get tested for HIV when they have social workers who share their cultural background, language, and appearance.
鈥淭here are a lot of myths and stigma still surrounding HIV and, as providers, we have to find ways to work around that,鈥� says Guzm谩n, who has worked at Casa Esperanza for nearly 10 years. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I think having more Latino social workers is so important鈥攕o that we can guide and support people in order for them to feel like they have a good understanding of what鈥檚 going on.鈥�
At the summit, Micaurys Guzm谩n, second from the right, addressed the director of the Office of National AIDS Policy. Courtesy photo.
Guzm谩n models her empathetic approach to clients at Casa Esperanza after her own experience in the LLI, where she received continuous support from faculty and staff.聽
When Guzm谩n was struggling to balance her coursework with her job at the behavioral health center, she sought guidance from LLI Assistant Director Ximena Soto. She remembers visiting her office in tears鈥攁nd on the verge of dropping out of the program.
鈥淴imena is like, 鈥楴o, what can we do?鈥欌�� Guzm谩n recalls. 鈥樷�淗ow can we make this work? What support do you need for your assignments? What are the things that you need in terms of your internship? What are the accommodations?鈥欌��
Guzm谩n stuck with the program. She even earned a certificate in trauma, which has come in handy as she works with a small caseload of clients at Casa Esperanza in addition to her other responsibilities.聽聽
As an alumnus, Guzm谩n says that the LLI paid for her to take a six-month course in preparation for the Licensed Clinical Social Worker exam, which she passed in October. 鈥淚t feels like a family,鈥� she says of the award-winning program, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in March with a daylong symposium.
Now, Guzm谩n applies the LLI鈥檚 ethos of generosity, teamwork, and perseverance to help clients at Casa Esperanza get their lives back on track. She says that she and her colleagues regularly team up to help people living with HIV find affordable housing, get jobs, and sort out their immigration status.聽
鈥淲e really try to support them in being able to communicate and advocate for themselves,鈥� says Guzm谩n, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic to the United States in 2005 at the age of 18.
At the White House summit, her overview of Casa Esperanza鈥檚 support services for Latinx people living with HIV, which includes everything from personalized care plans to transportation to and from medical appointments, was well-received by other participants. Healthcare professionals, social service providers, and individuals with lived experience in attendance were all surprised to learn that a small, community-based organization that employs only 180 people is able to provide such comprehensive support to so many in need.聽
鈥淐lients coming to us are seen not as fragments of the different problems that they might be facing, but as whole, complex people,鈥� says Guzm谩n. 鈥淥ther experts at the summit were surprised that we are doing so much in the community despite being so little.鈥�
