COUNSELING PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS
Impacts of HIV/AIDS
Fear of going through long painful illness and the rejection and stigma that is likely to
follow can be very traumatizing for individuals living with HIV/AIDS
The feeling that one can no longer achieve their life’s goals e.g. getting married and
having a family because they have HIV.
They may also worry that they will not be around long enough to care for their children
Illness often results in poverty because the sick person in not able to be optimally
productive. This is especially bad if the individual is the breadwinner. The household
finds itself with higher medical costs e.g. money to buy medications
A marriage can break in the case where one partner is infected and the other is not.
Likewise, when both are infected, they can blame one another as the cause. This can
result if domestic violence and abuse
Stigma and rejection is also an issue facing people living with HIV/AIDS
Uncertainty and suspicion when establishing relationships.
Impacts on Children
Children could be orphaned at a tender age when they need their parents most. Such
children could end up in orphanages or in the streets.
Some children are raised by grandparents who are too old to take adequate care of them
and are also poor.
Poverty could lead these children into early marriage and commercial sex work which
increases their own risk of getting the infection.
Some of these children are forced to drop out of school and work in order to provide for
their younger siblings. This means that these children will remain poor even in adulthood
and we know that poverty is one important risk factor for HIV especially in the
developing countries like Kenya
Children born with HIV and those orphaned by it are often faced with rejection and
stigma. Other children could refuse to play with them hence leaving them lonely.
, HIV Testing and Counseling
Pre-test Counseling
Pre-test counseling is the counseling offered before the client takes the HIV test.
You discuss the test and the implications of the outcome of the test.
The client should of course be making a voluntary, informed choice to take the test.
The client’s risk of exposure to HIV is an important issue in this stage of counseling.
Explore issues such as whether they have multiple sex partners, whether they practice
safe sex, if they have engaged in high risk activities like injecting drug use etc.
You also need to discuss the client’s knowledge about HIV, what they know about the
test and how they will cope with the outcome.
Explore issues like the reason they sought the test and what they intend to do after the
test.
Pretest counseling should help the client make an informed choice, understand the test
and prepare for whichever outcome.
Posttest Counseling
This begins from the moment the results are given to the client and could continue for
many sessions afterwards.
This counseling should help prepare the client for the results, provide emotional support
to cope with the result and chart a way forward whether the client tested positive or
negative.
Note that the client might still not be prepared for the result so assess their readiness and
take a while to prepare them before you give them the result.
Clients may be anxious or take a while to digest the results.
What if the result is negative?
o The client is likely to be relived.
o Discuss the implications of the negative result because even a negative result has
implications.
o To start with, the test might be negative because the client is still in the ‘window
period’ when the HIV antibodies may not be found even though the client is infected.
Advice the client on this and encourage another test three months later.
Impacts of HIV/AIDS
Fear of going through long painful illness and the rejection and stigma that is likely to
follow can be very traumatizing for individuals living with HIV/AIDS
The feeling that one can no longer achieve their life’s goals e.g. getting married and
having a family because they have HIV.
They may also worry that they will not be around long enough to care for their children
Illness often results in poverty because the sick person in not able to be optimally
productive. This is especially bad if the individual is the breadwinner. The household
finds itself with higher medical costs e.g. money to buy medications
A marriage can break in the case where one partner is infected and the other is not.
Likewise, when both are infected, they can blame one another as the cause. This can
result if domestic violence and abuse
Stigma and rejection is also an issue facing people living with HIV/AIDS
Uncertainty and suspicion when establishing relationships.
Impacts on Children
Children could be orphaned at a tender age when they need their parents most. Such
children could end up in orphanages or in the streets.
Some children are raised by grandparents who are too old to take adequate care of them
and are also poor.
Poverty could lead these children into early marriage and commercial sex work which
increases their own risk of getting the infection.
Some of these children are forced to drop out of school and work in order to provide for
their younger siblings. This means that these children will remain poor even in adulthood
and we know that poverty is one important risk factor for HIV especially in the
developing countries like Kenya
Children born with HIV and those orphaned by it are often faced with rejection and
stigma. Other children could refuse to play with them hence leaving them lonely.
, HIV Testing and Counseling
Pre-test Counseling
Pre-test counseling is the counseling offered before the client takes the HIV test.
You discuss the test and the implications of the outcome of the test.
The client should of course be making a voluntary, informed choice to take the test.
The client’s risk of exposure to HIV is an important issue in this stage of counseling.
Explore issues such as whether they have multiple sex partners, whether they practice
safe sex, if they have engaged in high risk activities like injecting drug use etc.
You also need to discuss the client’s knowledge about HIV, what they know about the
test and how they will cope with the outcome.
Explore issues like the reason they sought the test and what they intend to do after the
test.
Pretest counseling should help the client make an informed choice, understand the test
and prepare for whichever outcome.
Posttest Counseling
This begins from the moment the results are given to the client and could continue for
many sessions afterwards.
This counseling should help prepare the client for the results, provide emotional support
to cope with the result and chart a way forward whether the client tested positive or
negative.
Note that the client might still not be prepared for the result so assess their readiness and
take a while to prepare them before you give them the result.
Clients may be anxious or take a while to digest the results.
What if the result is negative?
o The client is likely to be relived.
o Discuss the implications of the negative result because even a negative result has
implications.
o To start with, the test might be negative because the client is still in the ‘window
period’ when the HIV antibodies may not be found even though the client is infected.
Advice the client on this and encourage another test three months later.
