Scholarly record

INCREASING ANTIRETROVIRAL TREATMENT ADHERENCE THROUGH PSYCHOTHERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES

Iulia Ciorbea, Adina Atomei

Abstract

Although most psychotherapeutic interventions have a significant impact on the patients` well-being, there is no consensus on the optimal psychotherapeutic intervention in working with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) patients. The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of different therapeutic strategies and to determine which type of psychotherapeutic intervention can improve the patients` psychosocial integration, ART (antiretroviral treatment) adherence, anxiety and depression. A number of 80 HIV-positive patients received different forms of therapeutic assistance: cognitive-behavioral therapy, supportive therapy, integrative therapy, medical-educational counseling and antidepressant medication. Participants were evaluated with different psychometric instruments (the CEAT-VIH, The Beck Depression Scale, The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, The Melgosa Stress Scale, Psychosocial Integration Scale) at the beginning of the therapeutic intervention, at the end and in the follow-up stage. The results demonstrated that psychotherapy significantly improves the assessed variables. The effects of psychotherapy maintained over time. The implications of this study on increasing the psychotherapeutic effectiveness when working with HIV/AIDS patients will be discussed.

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