While adults with HIV infection are living longer and healthier lives as a result of new therapies, the special needs of those who are parents and the needs of their uninfected children for health care, mental health services, and psychosocial support are often unaddressed. The National Pediatric & Family HIV Resource Center conducted a project to identify the health and social service needs of families where the parent is living with HIV disease and the children are uninfected. Data gathered from a literature review, interviews with key informants across the country, and an audioconference with researchers and service providers was used to develop a working document outlining critical issues in health care, mental health, permanency planning and family support services. A working group of 30 professionals and consumers met together and responded to the document with recommendations for services and public policy. Crosscutting issues included the need for recognizing and supporting changing family structures, the importance of community-based services for families, the need for adult healthcare settings to recognize and respond to families’ needs, mental health and permanency planning offered across the continuum of services, and the need for provider education about family systems, community services, and client collaboration. The working group also recommended that funding for services to affected families such as bereavement and mental health services not be linked to parental HIV status, and highlighted the need for funding incentives for interagency collaboration, services that empower families and normalize their experience, and flexibility in where services are delivered.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to: identify issues related to health and social service needs of families living with HIV infection and their uninfected children; describe unmet needs of families and children affected by HIV disease; and identify components of model projects that effectively meet those need
Keywords: Access to Care, HIV/AIDS
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.