Changing HIV guidelines: how to communicate treatment start

Excerpt

Recent treatment guidelines support the start of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in HIV-infected persons already at a CD4-cell count threshold 350 cells/µl. This includes to a large proportion asymptomatic individuals who do not necessarily see a good reason to start ART. In such cases, counselling can become a challenge. There is a lack of structured tools to optimally assess patients' readiness and to support them in this process. The purpose of this project was twofold: First to develop an algorithm for health care providers (HCP) to guide patients in the situation of treatment start. Second to develop a workshop during which HCP are instructed how to implement the algorithm and how to improve communication skills. …