CWGHR Award of Excellence
in HIV and Rehabilitation
2011 Recipient:
Dr. Mary Petty
The Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR) is pleased to announce the 2011 recipient of the Award of Excellence in HIV and Rehabilitation: Dr. Mary Petty. The Award will be presented to Mary in person in Toronto on the evening of June 11, 2011 at a special Award dinner. For more information about the Award dinner and the 2011 Forum, click here.
"As a knowledgeable and impactful Social Worker, Mary is a wonderful guide with a kind and amazing spirit who contributes much to the HIV/AIDS movement." (nomination letter of support)
Mary has worked in the HIV/AIDS epidemic since the early 1980s when she was a graduate social work student in the U.S. Like many activists in the women’s health movement at the time, she began working with gay men in communities facing the AIDS crisis. She went on to receive her MSW from Dalhousie University in 1985 and began her professional social work career in a psychiatric rehabilitation program in Halifax.
Continuing to work in the community, organizing around gay and lesbian health issues and the HIV/AIDS crisis, she worked to incorporate HIV prevention education into services for patients with psychiatric illnesses. She began doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994, studying cultural and policy aspects of the AIDS epidemic through ethnographic research with ACT UP Philadelphia. She received her Ph.D. in Social Welfare in 2000 and moved to Vancouver where she began working in St. Paul’s Hospital HIV program.
Mary has collaborated extensively with community groups and is currently working with BCPWA (Positive Living BC) to develop a peer navigation program as part of the HIV primary care program in the Immunodeficiency Clinic. She started a support group for HIV positive people working and re-entering the work force and has been instrumental in developing counseling and advocacy services for long term survivors of HIV.
She teaches in the UBC College of Health Disciplines Interprofessional HIV/AIDS course and is an adjunct professor of social work at Dalhousie University where she developed an HIV and social work course for the distance graduate program. She has published on criminalization of HIV, self-help groups, aging with HIV and community based qualitative research methods.
"More impressive than Mary’s resume is her dedication to those she works with, students, staff and patients alike, within the field of HIV/AIDS. Mary is also a great advocate. She advocates to improve the daily lives of individuals living with HIV/AIDS in a direct and meaningful way through rehabilitation, support, and services. She is widely known and respected in the community at large for the work she does on behalf of people living with HIV/AIDS." (nomination letter of support)
It is CWGHR’s pleasure and honour to award Dr. Mary Petty the 2011 Award of Excellence in HIV and Rehabilitation.
About the CWGHR Award of Excellence in HIV and Rehabilitation
In 2008, CWGHR established the CWGHR Award of Excellence in HIV and Rehabilitation to recognize individuals or organizations for their excellence in the area of HIV and rehabilitation. The Award seeks to highlight outstanding contributions toward improving the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and to acknowledge those who embody CWGHR’s values and goals.
Nominations and Eligibility
Nominations for the CWGHR Award of Excellence are accepted for any individual or organization that has made contributions in the field of HIV and rehabilitation.
• Demonstrated overall excellence in the field of HIV and rehabilitation;
• Dedication and commitment to enhancing the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS;
• Demonstrated collaborative or interdisciplinary approach to work in the field of HIV and rehabilitation;
• Innovation in the field of HIV and rehabilitation and a demonstrated willingness to push boundaries in the field;
• Achievements in education, practice and research that support the field of HIV and rehabilitation;
• Development of new knowledge or partnerships that impact on the field of HIV and rehabilitation;
• Promotion of awareness of and access to rehabilitation programs and services for persons living with HIV/AIDS.
