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Brighton & Sussex Medical School

Living Well with HIV

BSMS > Research > Primary care and public health > Living-Well-with-HIV

Living Well with HIV

This project aims to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV by increasing access to mental health services across Kent, Surrey, and Sussex.

This project is supported by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration for Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

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Project overview

This demand-led project directly responds to the pressing mental health needs of people living with HIV in Kent, Surrey, and Sussex (KSS). We are working within a multidisciplinary KSS Coalition for Living Well with HIV to:

  1. Identify gaps in access to existing commissioned mental health services in the region.  
  2. Co-design pathways for linkage to existing mental health services with and for people living with HIV in the region.

Medical treatment has transformed HIV from a life sentence to a manageable, chronic condition. Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) means that people on effective HIV medication with an undetectable viral load cannot pass on HIV. However, persisting psycho-social challenges including stigma and discrimination are compromising quality of life and engagement with services. 

In the UK, people living with HIV have a higher chance of developing depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress compared to the rest of the population.  Integrating HIV and mental health services can help meet the complex needs of people living with HIV, whilst improving both patient and service delivery outcomes.

KSS Coalition for Living Well with HIV

Formed in March 2021, the KSS Coalition for Living Well with HIV is the region’s first collaborative work on mental health and HIV. Consisting of cross-regional people living with HIV, HIV community representatives, researchers, health service providers, and commissioners, the Coalition will ensure that stakeholders are meaningfully engaged throughout the study and inform the co-development of follow-on research. 

This project would not be possible without the KSS Coalition for Living Well with HIV and in particular the insight, critique and advice from our members living with HIV. We are grateful for the involvement and dedication of local service providers: University Hospital Sussex; Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust; Sexual Health Surrey; and the Terrence Higgins Trust.

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Why Kent, Surrey and Sussex?

Compared to other English counties, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex are home to a disproportionate number of people living with HIV, more than half of whom experience mental health difficulties. Our local rapid survey uncovered that COVID-19 has further exacerbated mental health needs in this population. 

However, across Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, mental health services for people living with HIV are fragmented and difficult to navigate for both patients and their healthcare providers. There is an urgent need to examine reasons behind non-use of existing services, and to co-produce pathways that ensure people living with HIV are linked with appropriate mental health services in a timely manner.