People with HIV experience anxiety, depression and sleep problems more often

Nicola Galbraith, senior manager, Gilead HIV Standards Support Team

This article and the ‘Mental well-being and sleep education modules are organized, developed and funded by Gilead Sciences, wwith input from experts in the field of HIV, psychological well-being and sleep.

During my time as an HIV clinical nurse specialist in the NHS, I witnessed the evolution of HIV care from acute in nature to an often manageable, long-term condition. This is testament to the great progress that has been made in the field of HIV and a welcome shift, which comes with a number of new and evolving challenges.

Now that we are working with fellow HIV nurses as part of the Gilead HIV Standards Support Team, we can use our own experiences and insights to shape how the industry can provide valuable, additional support to HIV services.

Recently, in collaboration with clinical and community experts, we developed a series of educational training materials to support healthcare professionals in having conversations about sleep and psychological well-being among people living with HIV.

Table of Contents

People living with HIV are disproportionately affected by psychological well-being and sleep problems (Chaponda et al, 2017)

The relationship between HIV, mental health and sleep is closely intertwined (Croston and Rutter, 2020; Warner and Rutter, 2020; BPS, 2019; British HIV Association, 2018; BPS et al, 2011).

A diagnosis of HIV brings unique challenges such as discrimination, isolation and a lack of understanding, all of which can contribute to poor psychological well-being.

Mental health problems can significantly impact a person’s adjustment to their diagnosis, their relationships with healthcare providers, and their adherence to treatment. This in turn can lead to poorly controlled HIV infections and poorer health outcomes.

Furthermore, poor mental health often disrupts sleep patterns and physical well-being, exacerbating psychological problems.

“Recognizing mental health care as a central part of the multidisciplinary HIV team approach is critical to ensuring we can support people living with HIV to achieve the best possible physical and mental health outcomes. We need to equip HIV care providers with the knowledge to screen for mental health problems and support them to provide psychologically informed care and make referrals with confidence.”

Sarah Rutter, Clinical Psychologist and Psychology Lead at North Manchester General Hospital’s HIV Service

There is room for improvement in current mental health and sleep assessments and interventions (Brown et al, 2022)

Recently, our team conducted market research among 39 clinics reporting on data from 665 people living with HIV. The results clearly indicated that healthcare professionals are experiencing an increasing demand for psychological well-being and mental health support services.

However, the research also revealed significant differences in practice, alongside a lack of guidance, resources and capacity to facilitate the identification, management and ongoing monitoring of psychological wellbeing and sleep (Brown et al, 2022).

The findings indicate that there is a great need for improvements in this area, as continued monitoring and assessment are critical if we are to improve long-term health outcomes and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV.