Use of facilitated peer support group model for people living with HIV

Key take-home messages

• Group interventions are a popular, effective, and cost effective way of improving psychosocial and even some physiological health outcomes for PHAs.
• There exist a myriad of group designs, and no standardized intervention or delivery protocol exists for the running of an HIV support group. However, cognitive behavioral group therapy has proved especially effective.
• Treatment effects are influenced by characteristics of the participants (stage of illness, personal beliefs/values, and demographic characteristics) as well as the intervention design (ability of leader, intervention [cognitive, narrative, etc], and length/number of sessions).
• Unlike primary prevention groups, support groups for PHAs require specialised skills and have not been as widely used in community settings.

• Determinants of Health
  • Social support
• Population(s)
  • General HIV+ population
• Mental Health
  • Depression
• Health Systems
  • Delivery arrangements