I don’t know ART, but I know what I like
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can extend the lifespan of people living with HIV. Highly active versions of ART medications have even been shown to prevent progression to AIDS. However, these medications are only effective if they are taken as prescribed. Unfortunately, adherence to prescribed ART regimens is poor. The consequences of these poor adherence rates are significant – patients with HIV who have been non-adherent are more likely to progress to AIDS, even if adherence subsequently improves.
Non-adherence is complex and multi-determinant, and is frequently intentional amongst patients with HIV. Barriers to compliance that are consistently reported by patients include: “don’t understand treatment and/or suspicious of medication”. This suggests that a communication-based intervention designed to demystify HAART medications, i.e. to improve patients understanding of their medication and of the consequences of non-adherence, might improve adherence. Indeed, this has been shown to be the case. I believe any successful intervention will involve a significant component of peer-to-peer communication, as opposed to being reliant solely on doctor-disseminated materials. Communications technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate (see our twitter account), and the scope for peer-to-peer communications is massive.
