Empowering people in their care
Good quality HIV care is about much more than viral suppression, it’s about understanding the impact that HIV has on all aspects of a person’s life.
Talking openly and honestly with healthcare teams, peers and community organisations, can help people living with HIV feel more confident discussing the issues that are important to them.1 Feeling empowered in your care is linked to better health outcomes and quality of life (QoL).2
People living with HIV were asked about their relationships with their healthcare teams and their involvement in decisions about their care.
Moritz explains the importance of being able to talk openly to his doctor
Key findings
Encouraging people living with HIV to have open conversations with their healthcare team can help to make sure they understand all the options available to help manage their HIV care.
Support from peers and community organisations can help people living with HIV build confidence in talking openly to their healthcare teams about how to best manage their HIV care.
Listening attentively to people with HIV can help them feel comfortable discussing their treatment goals.
Study results
Engagement in care
Almost two-thirds of the people in the study wanted to be more involved with treatment decisions.3
said that they would like to be more involved in decisions about their HIV treatment<sup>3</sup>
People living with HIV who reported high engagement with their healthcare teams were more satisfied with their treatment and were healthier overall:3
People who reported high engagement
People who reported low engagement
Raising important issues with healthcare teams
Many people living with HIV feel uncomfortable talking to their healthcare teams about aspects of the HIV care, including treatment:3
Reported one or more issue they felt uncomfortable discussing with their healthcare teams<sup>3</sup>
We asked people who had been living with HIV for at least two years what their top treatment issues were:
Said concerns about side effects from their ART<sup>3</sup>
Said long-term impacts of HIV medicine<sup>3</sup>
Yet among those rating these issues as a priority, approximately one-third were uncomfortable discussing these issues with their healthcare teams<sup>3</sup>
Download the results report
If you would like to find out more about evolving treatment priorities, you can download the full results report here.
