Mental Health Interventions in HIV Care
Summary
People living with HIV frequently experience a range of mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. These conditions can undermine engagement with antiretroviral therapy, reduce quality of life and exacerbate stigma. In response, care models have evolved to integrate mental health screening and treatment directly within HIV services. Approaches vary from routine use of validated screening tools at clinic intake to psychosocial therapies delivered by non‐specialist providers. Task-shifting strategies enable nurses, counsellors or peer facilitators to deliver cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and problem-solving therapy, alleviating workforce shortages. Digital and mobile-health (mHealth) interventions are increasingly employed to deliver stress-management and behavioural support remotely. Group therapies, pharmacological care and stepped-care frameworks are also used to tailor interventions to symptom severity. Together, these efforts reflect a global movement to embed accessible, evidence-based mental health care within HIV treatment platforms, with the dual aims of improving psychological wellbeing and supporting long-term adherence and viral suppression.
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Mental Health Interventions in HIV Care publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in mental health interventions in hiv care across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT): A structured, time-limited psychological treatment that addresses unhelpful thoughts and behaviours to improve mood and coping.
Task-shifting: The delegation of healthcare tasks to less specialised workers to expand service delivery in contexts with limited specialist capacity.
mHealth: The use of mobile devices or digital platforms to deliver health interventions, monitor progress and provide support remotely.
Adherence: The extent to which a patient correctly follows prescribed antiretroviral regimens, crucial for viral suppression and overall health outcomes.
Screening: The systematic application of validated instruments to identify mental health symptoms early in HIV care pathways.
References
- Availability of screening and treatment for common mental disorders in HIV clinic settings: data from the global International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) Consortium, 2016–2017 and 2020. Journal of the International AIDS Society (2023).
- Brief cognitive behavior therapy for stigmatization, depression, quality of life, social support and adherence to treatment among patients with HIV/AIDS: a randomized control trial. BMC Psychiatry (2023).
- Effect of a WeChat-Based Intervention (Run4Love) on Depressive Symptoms Among People Living With HIV in China: Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2020).
- Treating depression and improving adherence in HIV care with task‐shared cognitive behavioural therapy in Khayelitsha, South Africa: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International AIDS Society (2021).
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