Health Psychology Clinical Problem of HIV - Essay Example

?Health Psychology Clinical Problem- HIV: It is an undeniable reality that people living with HIV Aids suffer from a variety of drastic psychologicalproblems which is why supporting them in the most appropriate manner possible is mandatory. Psychological support for these people is minimal even in the present modern times with many sentenced to lifetime imprisonment in small cells by their own family members especially in the developing world where even discussing these highly stigmatized issues is considered taboo. Even where awareness programs are conducted on a large scale by social workers and psychologists, the common public still lacks sufficient knowledge as to how to fulfill myriad psychological needs of these physically and socioeconomically disadvantaged people. Basically, this essay aims at contemplating what contemporary literature has to say on this subject in order to analyze the depth of this health problem in the present times. The essay also includes a brief program design for HIV individuals to highlight what goals and interventions could be adopted to rehabilitate such patients. According to a study published by scholars at University of North Carolina (cited in Health & Medicine, 2008), some of the major psychological issues affecting HIV patients are mind benumbing stress, depression, anxiety, and trauma. These health problems badly plague a person infected with HIV/AIDS to the extent that he/she is ousted from all normal social activities after sometime. These people do not connect with friends and family the way they used to before being diagnosed with the disease which makes them drastically restless and suicidal. The study indicates that these are also the psychological issues which have been consistently neglected in biomedical and treatment research in the past. However, their importance in the present times is a far cry from the past as now they are considered to hold immense potential to affect health of HIV individuals and control of the disease. In a detailed study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, the scientists at NCU explain how different measures should be taken to improve HIV patients’ outcomes and keep them from falling prey to psychological illnesses which come along with a disease like AIDS. It is claimed that not all health professionals responsible for looking after HIV patients fully acknowledge different psychosocial influences which affect them. Regarding the intricate nature of those influences, there is a large body of knowledge and most health care professionals have other things on their agendas than to look into myriad needs of these highly special patients. Undeniably, every patient is special but what makes HIV patients stand out is that the disease infecting them is highly stigmatized and if not appropriate measures are taken in time to rehabilitate them, the chances of depression and suicidal notions readily shoot up. The primary psychological problems affecting HIV patients mentioned already should not be taken lightly as with increasing rate of HIV, depression, stress, and traumatic events are also occurring in “epidemic proportions in HIV-infected persons” (Leserman, cited in Health & Medicine, 2008). This study serves as a guide to all health care professionals encouraging them to incorporate treatment of psychological issues in standard HIV care for better results and stable society. The study by UNC scientists further indicates that the psychosocial issues of trauma, anxiety, and depression do not have short term effects on HIV patients. In contrast, they have consistent and lifelong effects playing a role in rapidly advancing the disease. In healthy individuals, the virus takes a couple of years and in some patients many years before symptoms start to occur as the immune system degenerates. But when the virus has established itself in the body, grave psychosocial issues work to drive the disease rapidly as a result of which the immune system dies a premature death. It is also claimed by Chavis (2010) that a great number of research studies from across the globe identify heightened incidence of mental health issues in people living with HIV which highlights the increasing need to incorporate more psychological treatment services in standard HIV care. Not much attention is paid to psychological issues when treating HIV patients in the past. Mostly, people were shunned out as soon as diagnosed with the virus let alone investing time in addressing various psychological problems encountered by them. However, a large body of modern research indicates now that mental and behavioral issues affecting many HIV individuals are of the kind which are clinically relevant and attention demanding. It may take people infected with this disease a couple of years to die, but their psychological functioning plummets down way before if proper interventions are not executed to address depression and suicidal tendencies which are rampant among them. It is claimed that smartly engineered interventions can “help to ameliorate some of the negative health and behavioral effects associated with poor psychological functioning” (Health & Medicine, 2008). Another worthwhile research study on what pressures HIV patients have to deal with after diagnosis explains how social and family support can produce a positive influence on different levels for them (Li et al., 2006). The study lays emphasis on inclusion of families in HIV treatment plan claiming that people closest to HIV patients should not be left out as they can profoundly affect both the wellbeing of the patient and how the disease progresses. The study conducted results after conducting interviews with HIV patients of different ages in China to find out how the disease had altered them psychosocially. China constitutes one-fifth of the world’s population and with expected HIV growth of 30% each year, the risk of this disease is worrisome in the country. Though the government has acknowledge the high risk of AIDS and has reserved special funds to plummet down the rate, effective intervention programs especially those which are culturally appropriate still require much work. The results of the study conducted by Li et al. (2006) showed that all patients were in great need of help and support and looked forward to their families for care and assistance. They also emphasized that the support ensured by families is of profound importance and so families and friends if willing should be included in HIV intervention programs. The study also presents evidence that in addition to financial crisis, HIV patients and their whole families have to deal with the worst kind of discrimination which underlines the fact that when one suffers from HIV, the whole family has to deal with the consequences. There are also places in this world like Nigeria where when one is diagnosed with HIV, his/her whole family is recognized as AIDS family by others (Alubo et al., cited in Li et al., 2006). These kind of social behaviors need to be targeted and altered because they foster the growth of psychological disorders among HIV individuals. It is deplorable how many people suffering from HIV have to live their lives like they are absolutely cursed and have no reach to happiness. First people should be taught about the psychological needs of people living with HIV and they should be made familiar with the complex nature of those needs. Then more importantly, they should be encouraged to adopt different forms of support systems to meet those needs on different levels and help HIV patients move out of depression. One UK report published by NAT analyzing how HIV connects with psychological issues claims that “mental health problems are a burden in their own right and they therefore merit attention and care” (Sherr, cited in NAT, 2010). It is argued that while the rate of endurance among HIV patients has increased worldwide thanks to good educational programs and timely interventions, the news of this disease still weighs down care givers principally due to its embarrassing nature. So the response of the people to HIV needs to be transformed. However, it is a good thing that care and family involvement agendas are gaining importance around the globe and “the shift of the silent epidemic of HIV into a visible epidemic of AIDS” (Russel and Schneider, cited in Kohli et al. 2012) is thought to be responsible for this change. Social isolation is a terrible curse and it is the ethical and social responsibility of every human being to save others from this irrespective of the background of a person. Save social alienation, there are other issues also for people living with HIV which hinder health progress and fuel psychological disorders. Research done by scholars in China indicates that while on one side the cost of health care is rising, the income of a person diagnosed with HIV is also found to decrease to a fairly low level which makes the chances of reaching good intervention programs fairly minimal. Many companies have also been seen firing their employees because they were found to be HIV-positive which is considered especially shameful and shocking in countries like China. Unemployment makes living particularly bizarre for HIV individuals as it restricts “access to basic goods such as food, housing, medication, and education for children” (China Nanfang Zhoumo News, cited in Li et al., 2006). The HIV/AIDS program I have designed for people living with this disease aims at improving the mental health development, access to quality care services, and incorporation of friends and family to transform the community’s response and awareness level to the disease. My program design targets at generating a compassionate response to people living with HIV so that they would be not discriminated against by the general society. In addition to increasing longevity in the patients and providing management and support services, the program will also offer educational, lifestyle modification, and prevention services for people at high risk for disease. Inclusion criteria are specific requirements that the participants of the program must meet in order to be included and which will be based on young men and women between the ages of 25 and 35 who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, are IV drug abusers, have a known HIV status who have advanced to treatment options, display absence of HIV defining symptoms after immune reconstitution, provide evidence for sustained virological response, are willing to go for strict follow-up studies, are able to cooperate with the attending professionals, and display clinical record of known mental health problems like depression, stress, and traumatic events. Exclusion criteria are conditions on the basis of which participants will not be included in the program. These contraindications will consist of patients who do not fall in the age group of 25-35, have recently undergone renal transplant as infections occurring following organ transplantation among HIV patients are common and fatal, provide no evidence for mental health problems, pregnancy, in whom the virus has not yet fully established itself in the body, have any record of previous life-threatening infections which are at risk of re-activation during the program period, provide evidence for active bacterial infections, no evidence for sustained virological response or successful treatment, and uninterrupted substance abuse. The HIV program design will include three types of studies with the first type comprising of 100% HIV-positive men with separate analyses for women. The second type of studies will consist of 50% male and 50% female participants with no separate analyses for any participant and the third set of studies will be conducted with 100% HIV-positive women with separate analyses for men. The program will include various types of interventions though the three major kinds will be based on behavior, mental health, and social response. Behavioral interventions will seek to alter the HIV individuals’ behavior without reaching out to friends and family or general community encouraging them to change their response. These interventions will only target the patients themselves. Mental health interventions will aim at prompting the patients through different measures like informative programs, group therapy, clinical counseling etc. to adopt a more positive and less destructive response to their disease in a hope to reduce stress and chronic depression in them. They will be advised on how to reach out to the society and regain their identity. Social interventions will target families and general population in addition to HIV patients in order to bring the two groups closer together and bridge distances between them. This part will also focus on encouraging the people to change their attitudes towards HIV individuals and not discriminate against them. References: Chavis, S. (2010, Sep 10). Heightened Incidence of Mental Health Disorders in HIV/AIDS Patients. PsychCentral. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/10/heightened-incidence-of-mental-health-disorders-in-hivaids-patients/17945.html Health and Medicine. (2008, Jun 18). Psychosocial issues affect HIV/AIDS treatment outcomes: UNC researcher. e! Science News. Retrieved from http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/06/18/psychosocial.issues.affect.hivaids.treatment.outcomes.unc.researcher Kohli, R., Purohit, V., Karve, L., Bhalerao, V., Karvande, S. et al. (2012). Caring for Caregivers of People Living with HIV in the Family: A Response to the HIV Pandemic from Two Urban Slum Communities in Pune, India. PLoS ONE 7(9). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044989 Li, L., Wu, S., Wu, Z., Sun, S., Cui, H., & Jia, M. (2006). Understanding Family Support for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Yunnan, China. AIDS and Behavior, 10(5), 509-517. doi: 10.1007/s10461-006-9071-0 NAT. (2010). Psychological support for people living with HIV. Retrieved from http://www.nat.org.uk/media/Files/Information%20and%20resources%20-%20publications/Psychological%20support%20for%20plwh.pdf Read More