Vulnerable Population: People Living with HIV Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Instructor Due Date
People Living with HIV The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) targets their immune system . They have a weak immune system because the virus affects the CD4 cells. They are susceptible to various infections. 38 million individuals were living with HIV in 2019 (World Health Organization (WHO), 2020). 690,000 people with HIV died in 2019 (WHO, 2020). 1.7 million people got infected with HIV in 2019.
Reasons for Vulnerability Their weak immune systems puts them at risk for poor health outcomes. They also face difficulties in accessing healthcare. They experience major disparities in life expectancy, mortality, and morbidity. They have complex health needs that intersect with their economic and social conditions.
Common Communicable Diseases Tuberculosis Pneumonia Herpes simple virus Candidiasis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2020).
Barriers to Healthcare and Access to Care Patient Barriers: Negative cultural health beliefs HIV stigma Lack of social support systems Unstable housing Denial of HIV status (Mgbere et al., 2015).
Barriers to Healthcare and Access to Care Patient Barriers cont’d: Incarceration Transportation problems Drug and alcohol abuse problems Inability to understand medical instructions Mental health problems
Barriers to Healthcare and Access to Care System Barriers: High cost of HIV care No insurance coverage Inconvenience due to clinic location and inflexible hours of operation Unavailability of child care at the clinic Lack of translation services (Mgbere et al., 2015) Length of time for scheduling appointments
How HIV Relates to Public Health Nursing HIV has impacted public health nursing through: Increased workload Ethical issues related to HIV in practice, such as confidentiality Stigma attached to HIV Fear of contracting HIV by the nurses Lack of support of employees affected by HIV (Bhengu & Ncama, 2015)
Evidence Based Practices That Improve Health Outcomes of People with HIV Linkage to care for individuals newly diagnosed with HIV Offering comprehensive and integrated care services, including: Clinical services Mental healthcare
Psychosocial services Housing support Financial support Addiction treatment (Maina et al., 2016)
Resources That Will Improve Health Outcomes of People with HIV Information technology offers resources that can be used to improve the outcomes of patients with HIV, including: Electronic health records M-health Telehealth Social media Big data Websites Gamification (Avert, 2020)
References Avert. (2020). Technology, e-health, and HIV programming. https://www.avert.org/technology-e-health-and-hivprogramming Bhengu, B. R. & Ncama, B. P. (2015). The impact of HIV/AIDS on the nursing profession in Sub-Saharan Africa. In S. Breakey, I.B. Corless, N.L. Meedzan, & P.K. Nicholas (Eds.), Global health nursing in the 21st century. Springer Publishing Company. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020). AIDS and opportunistic infections. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/livingwithhiv/opportunisticinfections.html Maina, G., Mill, J., Chaw-Kant, J., & Caine, V. (2016). A systematic review of best practices in HIV care. Journal of HIV/AIDS & Social Services, 15(1), 114-126. Mgbere, O., Khuwaja, S., Bell, T.K., Rodriguez-Barradas, M.C., Arafat, R., Essien, E.J., Singh, M., Aguilar, J. and Roland, E. (2015). System and patient barriers to care among people living with HIV/AIDS in Houston/Harris County, Texas: HIV Medical Care Providers’ Perspectives. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC), 14(6), 505-515. World Health Organization (WHO). (2020). HIV/AIDS. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hiv-aids