victumo/art-therapy-hiv-dsd-samburu

art-therapy-hiv-dsd-samburu # 🎨 Art as Therapy: Can Painting Improve HIV Outcomes for Adolescents? ### A Differentiated Service Delivery (DSD) Model for AYP in Samburu, Kenya **Author:** Victor Cheptumo — Biomedical Scientist | Community Volunteer | Health Data Analyst, Samburu County, Kenya --- ## 📊 At a Glance | Metric | 🎨 Painting Cohort | 🏥 Standard Care | |--------|:---:|:---:| | **Established in Care** | **77.8%** | 46.2% | | **Viral Suppression ( 167 AYP (10–24 years) | May 2023 – June 2026 | Samburu County Referral Hospital (MFL 15126) --- ## 📖 The Story Behind This Project In May 2024, I was working as a medical lab technologist at Samburu County Referral Hospital (SCRH), collecting viral load samples from kids living with HIV. Many would get excited and want to touch my computer. Some days, 5 of them would be using it during Friday clinics. I'd opened them a **student account** — no risk to my data! This curiosity led me to start teaching them basic computer skills. These kids are from **marginalised areas in northern Kenya** with limited access to devices, tech, and infrastructure. I'd pool computers from clinic service points and we'd learn on **Saturdays** — a relaxed, no-pressure environment. These Saturday workshops became more than just computer classes. **The kids would take their medications, get their lab samples collected, and then paint.** In a region where **HIV stigma is high** and walking into a clinic during busy days can expose adolescents to gossip and discrimination, these quiet Saturday sessions offered a safe space. We outgrew the space, **collaborated with Painting for an Education**, and introduced art painting — which the kids loved. **Painting helps them relax and express themselves in ways they don't usually talk about.** We now do monthly remote sessions with artists. Today, **27 AYP** have attended 3 or more painting sessions since May 2024. In early 2025, the **global USAID funding freeze** hit. Clinics were disrupted everywhere — reagent s …