Mapping Care Project: The History of Black Nurses in Chicago

Perspectives on HIV & AIDS Care

Lesson Title: Perspective on HIV & AIDS Care
Subject(s): U.S. History, Health Sciences
Grade: 9-12
Keywords: HIV, AIDS, discrimination, destigmatization 
Time: 2-3 45 minute class periods
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Essential Questions:

Learning Objectives 

Standards:


Introduction:
In this lesson, students will learn about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, explore nurses’ roles in patient care, advocacy for those with HIV, and the impact of the epidemic on culture, society, and the field of health. Students will have the opportunity to dive deeply into the oral history of a Black nurse who worked on the HIV/AIDs unit at Cook County Hospital at the height of the 1980’s epidemic.

This lesson can be taught as a standalone lesson or be paired with lessons from Teaching Care about Black nurse activism, public health, and/or the COVID-19 pandemic.

Note that this lesson is intended to focus primarily on the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but can also be an important opportunity to disrupt students’ common misconceptions about HIV/AIDS. Teachers who do not feel comfortable discussing HIV/AIDS transmission and safe sex with students should consider skipping this lesson.

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Activity Plan:

1) Post It Gallery: Assessing Preconceptions

2) HIV/AIDS Overview (Lecture)

3) Oral History Activity

4) Post It Gallery: Revisiting Preconceptions (Small group discussions)

5) Closing Reflection: Silence & Public Memory

Assessments/ Materials  


Supplemental Resources  

CDC HIV Facts- https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/about/index.html

CDC HIV Discrimination Facts- https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/health-equity/index.html

HIV Education for Grades 9-12 - https://classroom.kidshealth.org/classroom/9to12/problems/conditions/hiv_aids.pdf 

HIV Education for Middle Grades -

https://www.schoolhealthny.com/cms/lib/NY01832015/Centricity/Domain/113/2._Middle_School_Toolkit_Guidance_HIV_AIDS_Final_2019.pdf 

ACT UP Advocacy- https://www.history.com/news/act-up-aids-patient-rights

Black AIDS Advocacy- https://blackaids.org/campaigns/

ACT UP Advocacy in Chicago - https://interactive.wttw.com/chicago-stories/outrage-of-danny-sotomayor/how-one-chicago-activist-made-waves-during-the-aids-crisis 

 


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Opener Activity

Provide students with sticky notes and tell them to write down one to two things that they know about HIV or AIDS, using one sticky note per statement. This can be, for example: knowledge about the virus or disease, knowledge about how people who had HIV or AIDS were treated historically, knowledge about advocacy, collect their notes, and place their notes along a designated wall or on a whiteboard.

In small groupings, allow all students a few minutes to browse the wall or board where the Post It notes have been placed. Inform students that they will be engaging in another activity (Post It Gallery Part II), later in class where they will, in groups, argue for or against the claims made on a particular sticky note of choice. 


HIV/AIDS Overview

Lecture students briefly on key information about HIV/AIDS.

See supplemental material list for support. It is recommended that you print and provide students with some factual material, for example, any of the CDC fact pages. Engage students in a discussion about HIV and AIDS. Incorporate material that: 

1. Defines HIV and AIDS 

2. Establishes the decade that the virus and disease were discovered

3. Gives examples of how they are acquired, treated, and prevented 

4. Mentions group and/or individual advocacy for care and destigmatization

5. Discuss HIV and AIDS is viewed our present society

6. Share notable medical advancements on treatment
 

Oral History Activity

Play the following oral history clips from nurse and administrator Jo Ann Dean. It is recommended that you play each clip twice to accommodate students who need to hear the audio more than once. Transcripts are available for use as an alternative to audio, if needed. Have students listen to or read, and take note of relevant information to help respond to some of the following questions in a class discussion. Teachers may also encourage students to share additional thoughts and points of interest beyond the outlined questions.

Discussion Questions: 

Clip 1 

  1. What sort of items did Dean say that workers in her AIDS unit wore when the AIDS unit first opened? What did they do with the clothes they wore at work? What did Banks say was the reason for this strange attire and behavior? 
  2. What assumptions do you think healthcare workers were making about the disease? What knowledge didn’t they have yet about the disease?

Clip 2 

  1. What kind of patients did Dean say came into the AIDS unit?
  2. What were patients' relationships like with family or community members? Provide at least one example. Were there any actions that you can point out that demonstrates patients being discriminated against or treated poorly by their facility because of their illness? If so, why do you think they were treated that way by others? 

Clip 3

  1. Why was the patient described in this clip surprising to you? Based on what you heard, what do you think made her an uncommon HIV or AIDS patient? What can you guess are common ideas about what a typical HIV or AIDS patient is? 

Clip 4

  1. Besides providing nursing care, how else did Dean show care for her patients? 
  2. How were some patients in this clip treated by their families? Are there similarities between patients’ experiences with family in this clip and others? What are they? 
 

Post It Gallery Part II Group Discussion 

Divide students into groups of no more than 4. Have each group elect a member to pull one note from the Post-It note wall created in Post It Gallery Part I activity. The group member can pull any note that interests them to take back to their group to talk about amongst one another. 

Students in the group must come to a conclusion on whether to debunk or verify the statement as truth. Once a decision is made, the group will fill out the Post It Gallery claim sheet, which they will submit for scoring using this rubric. Additionally, each group will have 4 minutes to present their argument to the rest of the class.

Students may argue using any of the information learned through the introductory presentation on HIV/AIDS, printed material about HIV/AIDS from any of the resource links provided, or from the oral history activity. They must incorporate at least two pieces of supporting evidence. 
 

Closing Reflection or Extension: Silence & Public Memory 

Show students these two comic cartoon images by AIDS activist Danny Sotomayor. Ask students to analyze each image.
 
Resources about Danny Sotomayor:

 Example of questions to consider in analysis: 

  1. What images and text do you see? What message(s) do you think each image is conveying? 
  2. How might these cartoons relate to what you’ve learned about HIV/AIDS today?  
  3. Why do we choose to remember or forget certain events? 
  4. Have you learned about HIV/AIDS before today? Did what you learned previously include the history of HIV/AIDS advocacy?
  5. Why do you think, based on these cartoons, you did (or did not) learn about the history of HIV/AIDS before?
  6. Has what you’ve learned about HIV AIDS in the past included stories and voices of people who had first-hand experience living with HIV and AIDS or people who cared for people with HIV or AIDS (like nurses, doctors, caregivers, friends)? 
 

Extension Activity

Ask students to create their own cartoon (or give them the option to do a headline) highlighting some aspect of the history of HIV/AIDS that they learned about in this lesson which they would want their community to remember/learn about.

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