Living with HIV: Emotional Needs and Support

Living with HIV: Emotional Needs and Support:

Addressing people’s emotional needs has positive outcomes on individuals and communities, serving to improve overall health, strengthen preventive behaviour, and improve life chances on a range of different criteria.2 It should therefore be a vital part of HIV treatment and care. In one survey of women in the United States, psychosocial interventions (a term often used to describe the range of emotional, mental health and psychological support measures) were most frequently mentioned as those which would help them live with HIV.3

The need to deal with the connection between mental health issues and HIV is emphasised in a study of Tanzanian women, which found depression was associated with disease progression and death.4 A similar relationship was found in the US, where a third of HIV-positive women were assessed as chronically depressed. Further, the AIDS-related mortality rate of those women with chronic HIV was around double that of women who had only little or no signs of depression. Although a cause-and-effect relationship between depression and mortality was not established it was believed that finding ways to reduce symptoms of depression could potentially prolong and improve the lives of women with HIV.5


Heroin addict living with HIV
Among people living in non-urban areas in Vermont, USA, heightened levels of depression were associated with facing barriers to accessing HIV care (including distance to travel, stigma, availability of quality medical and psychological services, and personal resources). In turn, depressive symptoms were linked with people having less safe sexual behaviour, and not expecting support if they disclosed. This highlights how targeting symptoms of depression in people with HIV can be a way to reduce sexual risk behaviour.6

One programme entitled Project TALC (Teens and Adults Learning to Communicate) looked at various quality of life criteria among adolescents who had a parent living with HIV. Some of the parents and their children were entered into a coping strategy programme that included group sessions on how to deal with their own or their parent’s illness, sadness, fear and anger; communication and conflict resolution; future planning; and issues such as substance abuse and safer sex. A further module was held if one of the adolescents’ parents had died. After six years the young adults who participated in the programme, showed markedly different results than those who did not take part. The participating adolescents were more likely to remain in education, less likely to receive state financial support and less likely to drink heavily. These adolescents had better romantic relationships, expressed heightened ability to resolve conflicts and problems with their partners, and had higher expectations of themselves and their partners.7

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