Veterans' Perspectives on Interventions to Improve Retention in HIV Care

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 2; p. e0148163
• Main Authors: Minick, Sophie G, Stafford, Crystal L, Kertz, Barbara L, Cully, Jeffery A, Stanley, Melinda A, Davila, Jessica A, Dang, Bich N, Rodriguez-Barradas, Maria C, Giordano, Thomas P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01-02-2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Adult; Aged; AIDS; Biology and Life Sciences; Care and treatment; Delivery of Health Care; Female; Focus groups; Health care; Health Care Surveys; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; HIV; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV patients; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental disorders; Mental health; Middle Aged; Patient compliance; Patients; People and Places; Physiological aspects; Primary Health Care; Retention; Substance use; United States - epidemiology; Veterans; Veterans Health; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148163

Poor retention in HIV medical care is associated with increased mortality among patients with HIV/AIDS. Developing new interventions to improve retention in HIV primary care is needed. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is the largest single provider of HIV care in the US. We sought to understand what veterans would want in an intervention to improve retention in VA HIV care. We conducted 18 one-on-one interviews and 15 outpatient focus groups with 46 patients living with HIV infection from the Michael E. DeBakey VAMC (MEDVAMC). Analysis identified three focus areas for improving retention in care: developing an HIV friendly clinic environment, providing mental health and substance use treatment concurrent with HIV care and encouraging peer support from other Veterans with HIV.