People with an HIV diagnosis often suffer psychologically as well. Yet this particular group has poor access to mental healthcare. In her PhD research in Botswana, psychologist Boitumelo Vavani discovered that a low-threshold self-help intervention reduces depressive symptoms.
An HIV diagnosis nowadays means that, with daily medication, you can have a normal life expectancy and enjoy a good quality of life. Nevertheless, people living with HIV are still two to seven times more likely than average to experience depressive symptoms. This is hardly surprising, emphasises psychologist Boitumelo Vavani, who explored this relationship further in her PhD research. 'After a diagnosis, your life changes completely; you have to organise your life around taking medication, and there is still a great deal of stigma and discrimination surrounding the condition, which can be isolating. In addition, the effects of the virus also affect the brain.'
In this video, Vavani explains in three minutes what she discovered in her research and why these findings matter.
Self-help intervention
It is precisely in low- and middle-income countries, where HIV is more prevalent, that people have less access to mental healthcare. Vavani therefore investigated the effectiveness of an accessible self-help intervention in the form of a practical booklet among people living with HIV in Botswana, where she also lives and teaches at the university. The intervention proved effective in reducing depressive symptoms compared with the group of participants who were on a waiting list.
Implementing on a large scale
Such an intervention can therefore help reduce depression among people living with HIV. But how can this form of self-help be implemented on a larger scale, and what can facilitate or hinder this process? Vavani also wanted to answer this question. 'One of the barriers is that HIV treatment centres do not yet routinely and systematically screen for mental health problems.' What proved helpful, however, was that many healthcare professionals were open to collaboration. 'That is an encouraging sign, because when you roll out the programme, you want both patients and hospital staff to be interested in the project.
