The passing of a newly diagnosed HIV patient was too impactful to top any other touching experience for a Health Connect Jamaica (HCJ) case manager who was rooting for the client to do well during treatment.

The case manager, whose name is being withheld for confidentiality purposes, shared her heartbreaking and heart-warming stories during an exclusive interview with the Jamaica Observer last Thursday, ahead of AIDS Awareness Month which is recognised in December.

The case manager, who has been in the field for eight years, said the client was an elderly woman in her mid-60s and was newly diagnosed last year but was poorly managing the diagnosis.

She also said the client had a lot of socio-economic problems.

“She received plenty interventions from the contact investigator and I, who would have tried our best to assist her where we can — checking in with her to ensure that she has food, support, taking the medication, but I guess she wasn’t motivated enough to push through and she ended up passing, and that was quite rough for me because I would have wanted her to get through it,” said the case manager who has been working with HCJ for a year.

“We had moments when she was doing well — really doing well — but something would happen at home and throw her back from point A,” she said as she smiled, seemingly reminiscing on the good relationship she shared with the woman.

According to the case manager, the woman’s failure to take the prescribed medication caused her to develop health conditions which led to her death.

“That was a bit challenging, and speaking to her children and hearing how distraught they were and the sadness that came with her death has been a rough one for me,” she said.

She mentioned that during treatment the client became more welcoming and friendly, even though she was a bit bad-tempered in the early stages. She also said the experience has taught her that, even though she might not be able to help everyone to go through treatment well, her efforts are enough.

“When we had our initial conversation she was very cantankerous, she wasn’t in any talking. Her children would always say, ‘Don’t pay her any mind, this is how she is,’ but when you go and visit her, she was a pleasure to speak to, very welcoming, kind, and though she didn’t have much, she was always offering. I realised that roughness that we first encountered was centred on the fact that I was a new person. But she was a good person, very nice to talk to,” she said.

“The feeling is usually the same, it doesn’t get easier. At the end of it I usually question myself about whether I did enough or not. But speaking with my colleagues and assessing all I would have done, I came to the conclusion that as a case manager you’re going to help a lot of people, but you won’t help everybody, and if I’m helping the majority then that is comforting for me,” she added.

For her heart-warming story, the case manager pointed to another newly diagnosed client who thought she had a mere skin issue.

“I had a client who came to us last year, newly diagnosed and completely distraught because, imagine going to your doctor for a skin issue and being referred to a dermatologist for the same skin issue and only to find out it was more than a skin issue. She was quite distraught about it because, as you can imagine, your skin is changing. People are seeing that and you’re super conscious about that,” she said.

She said after encouraging her to take her medication, the client who adhered, became virally suppressed after a year.

“Her skin is getting better and she is in a way better place. Just talking to her now and how positive she is and not so self-conscious puts a smile on my face,” she said.

The HCJ is funded by the United States President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the United States Agency for International Development. Established in October 2019, HCJ facilitates the linkage of private sector services and data to the public database, helping Jamaica account for people living with HIV who were never linked to care within the public system.