International
“Chapters of Stigma”
Situation:
Driven by a mission to ‘ensure that no person living with HIV is left behind,’ ViiV Healthcare faces the persistent challenge of combating stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV. Despite advancements in research, societal understanding of the disease remains stagnant, with an estimated 9 million individuals still lacking treatment1. Shockingly, 74% of diagnosed patients have experienced stigma or discrimination due to their status2, highlighting the urgent need for increased support and empathy from both communities and healthcare professionals (HCPs).
In line with the mission, ViiV aimed to equip HCPs with the necessary knowledge and tools to enable people living with HIV (PLHIV) to access care. To achieve this, ViiV partnered with Moorhouse and Havas to explore the potential of digital technologies in fostering empathy and understanding among HCPs.
Our Support:
Recognizing the issue, we, alongside ViiV, adopted a patient-centred, evidence-driven strategy to comprehend HIV-related stigma. This involved engaging with diverse stakeholders and conducting thorough data and literature analysis. Our collaborative actions pinpointed crucial themes and messages vital for addressing stigmatisation.
The resulting idea was an immersive virtual reality experience, named “Chapters of Stigma” that captures the daily stigma faced by PLHIV from a first-person perspective.
To ensure the timely launch of VR experiences at the 12th International AIDS Society Congress in Australia and effectively support ViiV, we formed a collaborative partnership between Moorhouse and Havas. Havas led design and production, while Moorhouse offered project management and advisory expertise. Key activities across the blended team included:
- Leading the design, production, and coordination of ‘Chapters of Stigma’ scenes
- Leading in sourcing actors, vetting them against the brief’s requirements
- Directing post-production voice over, sound, and typography enhancements
- Managing project milestones, timelines, stakeholders, and potential risks
- Providing Implementation support along with training guidance and processes for wider use
- Leading a post-launch discovery phase to explore additional ‘Chapters of Stigma’ use cases
Outcomes:
Our efforts ensured that ‘Chapters of Stigma’ was successfully debuted at the 12th IAS congress in Australia, receiving an overwhelmingly positive response from HCPs worldwide, with many expressing a desire to modify their care approaches for increased accessibility. Survey metrics revealed an average likelihood score of 4.7/ 5 for HCPs altering their approach to providing care to PLHIV after viewing the experience. Qualitative feedback highlighted the profound impact of the VR experience, eliciting sentiments of empathy and awareness.
Encouraged by this success, we collaborated with ViiV to integrate ‘Chapters of Stigma’ into future all major congresses and events globally, extending its influence on events such as European AIDS Clinical Society congress in Poland, IDWeek in America, International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa and the Rugby World Cup in France. Recognising the demand for localisation of the VR experience across ViiVs Americas, Europe, and APAC regions, we developed an operational framework to support ViiV’s global businesses in adapting ‘Chapters of Stigma’ to their regions, with requests already received from numerous countries worldwide.
- People Living with HIV Stigma Index 2.0 GLOBAL REPORT 2023
- World AIDS Day Survey
View the Moorhouse Consulting profile in the MCA Members Directory.