XIVV International AIDS Conference, Mexico City

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The way I see it How stigma and depression
affect self-perceived body image among
HIV-positive individuals on HAART AK Palmer1,
EK Brandson1, W. Zhang1, KC Duncan1, V Lima1, JS
Montaner1,2, RS Hogg1,31The British Columbia
Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver BC,
Canada 2Faculty of Medicine, University of
British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada 3Faculty
of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby BC, Canada

• XIVV International AIDS Conference, Mexico City
• 3-8 August 2008

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Background

• BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS opened in
  1992 in response to people dying of AIDS
• The Drug Treatment Program is mandated by the
  province to manage HAART treatment
• LISA Cohort (Longitudinal Investigations into
  Supportive and Ancillary health services)
• - Eligible participants are HIV-positive people
  living in British Columbia that started treatment
  on HAART
• - Recruited through their physicians,
  out-patient pharmacy, AIDS service organizations,
  flyers and word-of-mouth
• - 472 participants interviewed to date
• 3- year grant funded by the Canadian Institute
  for Health Research (CIHR)
• Opportunity to evaluate quality of life, side
  effects, the use of support services, and to
  learn more about the personal experiences of
  individuals living with HIV disease and on HAART.
  

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The estimated probability of experiencing
positive body image for all four groups
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Conclusions
What we have found Food security, neighbourhood
cohesion, a good standard of living in
comparison to their neighbours, high scores on
the quality of life scale, employment and smoking
affected ones self-perceived body image in a
positive manner, but above all, stigma and
depression are the deciding factors for positive
body image. Where do we go from here? There is
a demonstrated need for community-level
interventions to inform the public about HIV/AIDS
in order to reduce stigma towards those living
with HIV/AIDS. Along with addressing clinical
health status, physicians should regularly assess
patients mental health needs and be positioned
to refer patients to appropriate services.