TY - JOUR

T1 - Barriers and Facilitators of HIV Care Engagement

T2 - Results of a Qualitative Study in St. Petersburg, Russia

AU - Kuznetsova, Anna V.

AU - Meylakhs, Anastasia Y.

AU - Amirkhanian, Yuri A.

AU - Kelly, Jeffrey A.

AU - Yakovlev, Alexey A.

AU - Musatov, Vladimir B.

AU - Amirkhanian, Anastasia G.

PY - 2016/10/1

Y1 - 2016/10/1

N2 - Russia has a large HIV epidemic, but medical care engagement is low. Eighty HIV-positive persons in St. Petersburg completed in-depth interviews to identify barriers and facilitators of medical HIV care engagement. The most commonly-reported barriers involved difficulties accessing care providers, dissatisfaction with the quality of services, and negative attitudes of provider staff. Other barriers included not having illness symptoms, life stresses, low value placed on health, internalized stigma and wanting to hide one’s HIV status, fears of learning about one’s true health status, and substance abuse. Care facilitators were feeling responsible for one’s health and one’s family, care-related support from other HIV-positive persons, and the onset of health decline and fear of death. Substance use remission facilitated care engagement, as did good communication from providers and trust in one’s doctor. Interventions are needed in Russia to address HIV care infrastructural barriers and integrate HIV, substance abuse, care, and psychosocial services.

AB - Russia has a large HIV epidemic, but medical care engagement is low. Eighty HIV-positive persons in St. Petersburg completed in-depth interviews to identify barriers and facilitators of medical HIV care engagement. The most commonly-reported barriers involved difficulties accessing care providers, dissatisfaction with the quality of services, and negative attitudes of provider staff. Other barriers included not having illness symptoms, life stresses, low value placed on health, internalized stigma and wanting to hide one’s HIV status, fears of learning about one’s true health status, and substance abuse. Care facilitators were feeling responsible for one’s health and one’s family, care-related support from other HIV-positive persons, and the onset of health decline and fear of death. Substance use remission facilitated care engagement, as did good communication from providers and trust in one’s doctor. Interventions are needed in Russia to address HIV care infrastructural barriers and integrate HIV, substance abuse, care, and psychosocial services.

KW - HIV care linkage and retention

KW - HIV medical care

KW - HIV services

KW - HIV-positive

KW - Persons living with HIV (PLHIV)

KW - Russia

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84954322197&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10461-015-1282-9

DO - 10.1007/s10461-015-1282-9

M3 - Article

C2 - 26767534

AN - SCOPUS:84954322197

VL - 20

SP - 2433

EP - 2443

JO - AIDS and Behavior

JF - AIDS and Behavior

SN - 1090-7165

IS - 10

ER -