HIV cure research: print and online media reporting in Australia.

Objectives: While still in its early stages, recent scientific research towards a cure for HIV has generated widespread media interest. The aim of this paper was to explore the ways in which this research has been represented in Australian print and online media and discuss implications of this.

Methods: A search of databases from four selected media outlets was conducted to identify published articles that directly discussed HIV cure research.

The relationship between negative responses to HIV status disclosure and psychosocial outcomes among people living with HIV.

This report examines rates of HIV status disclosure and negative responses to disclosure among people living with HIV in Australia. Among 697 people living with HIV, most (>90%) had disclosed their status to friends, sexual partners and health providers. Almost a third had not disclosed to family, and half had not told any work colleagues.

Beliefs in Antiretroviral Treatment and Self-Efficacy in HIV Management are Associated with Distinctive HIV Treatment Trajectories.

An online survey was conducted among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Australia to discern key factors associated with distinctive ART use patterns. The sample (N = 358), was further divided into three groups: those on ART continuously since initiation (n = 208, 58.1%); those on ART intermittently (n = 117, 32.

HealthMap: a cluster randomised trial of interactive health plans and self-management support to prevent coronary heart disease in people with HIV.

Background: The leading causes of morbidity and mortality for people in high-income countries living with HIV are now non-AIDS malignancies, cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable diseases associated with ageing. This protocol describes the trial of HealthMap, a model of care for people with HIV (PWHIV) that includes use of an interactive shared health record and self-management support. The aims of the HealthMap trial are to evaluate engagement of PWHIV and healthcare providers with the model, and its effectiveness for reducing coronary heart disease risk, enhancing self-management, and improving mental health and quality of life of PWHIV.

The Positive Outlook Study: A Randomised Controlled Trial Evaluating Online Self-Management for HIV Positive Gay Men.

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of an online self-management program in improving health outcomes and well-being for gay men living with HIV in Australia. The online Positive Outlook Program was based on self-efficacy theory and used a self-management approach to enhance HIV-positive gay men's skills, confidence and abilities to manage the psychosocial issues associated with HIV in daily life. The 7-week program was delivered in closed groups and comprised information modules, action-planning activities, moderated discussion boards, and weekly peer-facilitated 'live chats'.

HIV Treatment as Prevention: Implications for Health Promotion.

Evidence has been accumulating in recent years that individuals with HIV who are effectively treated with antiretroviral drugs are highly unlikely to transmit the virus to their sexual partners. This approach has great potential to contribute to ongoing prevention efforts and has been termed 'treatment as prevention'. International political momentum has been building in recent years to attempt to significantly reduce new HIV infections globally and end the epidemic by 2030.

Chronic Disease Self-Management by People With HIV.

As HIV has transitioned into a chronic disease, reappraisal of clinical management has occurred with chronic disease self-management (CDSM) as one possibility. However, despite extensive work on CDSM across a range of diseases, little attention has focused on psychosocial contexts of the lives of people for whom programs are intended. This article reports semi-structured interviews used to explore health practices and motivations of 33 people with HIV (PWHIV) in Australia.

Online self-management for gay men living with HIV: a pilot study.

Unlabelled: Background The aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of Positive Outlook, an online self-management program for gay men living with HIV in Australia.

Methods: Two pilot studies were conducted, a small feasibility study (Pilot 1) followed by a pilot randomised controlled study (Pilot 2). Pilot 1 employed a pre and post-test design and included 10 men.

'Not Until I'm Absolutely Half-Dead and Have To:' Accounting for Non-Use of Antiretroviral Therapy in Semi-Structured Interviews with People Living with HIV in Australia.

Current debates regarding the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to promote both individual- and population-level health benefits underscore the importance of understanding why a subpopulation of people with diagnosed HIV and access to treatment choose not to use it. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between 2012 and 2014 with 27 people living with HIV in Australia who were not using ART at the time of interview. Analytic triangulation permitted an appreciation of not only the varied personal reasons for non-use of treatment, but also underlying views on HIV treatment, and the ideal conditions imagined necessary for treatment initiation.

Evolving views and practices of antiretroviral treatment prescribers in Australia.

Objective: To examine whether there have been recent changes in Australian antiretroviral treatment (ART) prescribers' perceptions and practices relating to early ART initiation, which was defined as commencing ART when a patient's CD4+ T-cell count approaches 500 cells/mm3 or immediately after a patient is diagnosed with HIV.

Design, Participants And Setting: Self-completed, anonymous, cross-sectional surveys, targeting all ART prescribers in Australia, were conducted online in 2012 and 2013. The surveys included questions on prescriber factors, CD4+ T-cell count at which prescribers would most strongly recommend ART initiation, and perceived patient characteristics that could change prescribers' practices of early initiation of ART.

The impact of HIV treatment-related stigma on uptake of antiretroviral therapy.

HIV-related stigma has been linked to avoidance of health care services and suboptimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, less is known about concerns of stigma related specifically to the taking of ART in uptake of treatment. This study examines experiences of HIV treatment-related stigma and assesses if these experiences are associated with ART uptake, independent of general HIV-related stigma.

Informing the development of an online self-management program for men living with HIV: a needs assessment.

Background: The aim of this mixed methods study was to conduct a multifaceted needs assessment to inform the development of an online self-management program for men living with HIV. The objectives were to describe the health-related quality of life for men living with HIV, the impact of living with HIV, and the perceived problem areas and service and support needs of these men. The needs assessment was conducted in accordance with the PRECEDE model for health promotion program planning.

The positive outlook study- a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an online self-management program targeting psychosocial issues for men living with HIV: a study protocol.

Background: The emergence of HIV as a chronic condition means that people living with HIV are required to take more responsibility for the self-management of their condition, including making physical, emotional and social adjustments. This paper describes the design and evaluation of Positive Outlook, an online program aiming to enhance the self-management skills of gay men living with HIV.

Methods/design: This study is designed as a randomised controlled trial in which men living with HIV in Australia will be assigned to either an intervention group or usual care control group.

The impact of living with HIV: differences in experiences of stigma for heterosexual and homosexual people living with HIV in Australia.

Unlabelled: Background HIV in Australia has been closely aligned with the gay community and continues to disproportionately affect members of this community. Although heterosexual transmission remains low, recently there has been an increase in new HIV diagnoses attributable to heterosexual sex. This highlights the need to address the health and social consequences for heterosexual people living with HIV (PLHIV).

Australian prescribers' perspectives on ART initiation in the era of "treatment as prevention".

This study explores Australian prescribers' attitudes towards Treatment as Prevention (TasP) and their practices around initiating combination antiretroviral treatment (cART) for HIV. A brief online survey was conducted nationally amongst antiretroviral treatment (ART) prescribers in Australia. The sample broadly represented ART prescribers in Australia (N = 108), with 40.

Experiences of HIV stigma: the role of visible symptoms, HIV centrality and community attachment for people living with HIV.

For many people living with HIV (PLHIV), disclosure or concealment of their HIV status may be under their personal control; however, for PLHIV with visible symptoms of their illness, disclosure may no longer be a choice. Previous research suggests that those with visible HIV symptoms have poorer mental and physical health than those without visible HIV symptoms. This study aimed to extend these findings and assess the role of perceived centrality of HIV in the lives of PLHIV as well as the role of attachment to an HIV-positive community in understanding the negative effects on health and well-being for PLHIV with visible HIV symptoms.

My body, my life, my choice: practices and meanings of complementary and alternative medicine among a sample of Australian people living with HIV/AIDS and their practitioners.

In this study we examine the sociocultural meaning and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by nine people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and four CAM practitioners. Analysis revealed five themes: focus on health not illness; resistance to antiretroviral therapy and adherence; allopathic medicine as narrow; difficulty disclosing to doctors; and a continuum of CAM that sometimes included conventional medicine and sometimes excluded it entirely. Literature on PLWHA in the West commonly describes them as sophisticated health consumers.