Petrou, Stavros, Dooley, M., Whitaker, L., Beck, E., Kupek, E., Wadsworth, J., Miller, D. and Renton, A. (1996) Community service needs of people with HIV infection in London. AIDS Care, 8 (4). pp. 467-478. doi:10.1080/09540129650125650 ISSN 0954-0121.

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Abstract

The objectives of this study were to describe the expressed needs for community services of HIV-infected individuals by disease stage, gender and transmission category and the barriers which prevent the receipt of such services. Structured interviewer-administered questionnaires concerning a 6-month retrospective period were used to obtain information on need for community services and problems which prevented the receipt of services. The study sample included 70 homosexual men with asymptomatic HIV disease, 42 homosexual men with symptomatic non-AIDS, 53 homosexual men with AIDS, 23 heterosexual men, 29 heterosexual women, 9 male and 9 female injecting drug users. The main outcome measures were the extent to which needs for community services were met and person/service combinations for which problems or barriers prevented the receipt of community services. On average, subjects expressed a need for 10 categories of community services over the 6-month period: homosexuals expressed a mean of 10, heterosexuals 10, injecting drug users 11, subjects with asymptomatic HIV infection 9, subjects with symptomatic non-AIDS 11, subjects with AIDS 13, men 9 and women 14. A total of 58% of community service needs were always met, 6% were rarely not met, 16% were sometimes not met, 6% were often not met and 14% were not met at all. The extent to which subjects felt that their needs were met was similar for the different study groups, but the needs of women were met somewhat less frequently than those of men. Similarly, people with AIDS felt that their needs were met slightly less often. Reported levels of unmet need were high for a wide range of services. The most common reason subjects gave for not having received a community service for which they expressed a need was ignorance of where or how to obtain the service. This was mentioned in one-third of all such cases. Anxieties over the competence with which a service would be rendered was mentioned in 13% of cases and long waiting times in 11%. The frequencies of unmet need for many community services were high and often seemed to arise either from a lack of awareness on the pan of subjects on how and where services could be obtained or from doubts about the relevance of services offered. Both of these barriers should be surmountable through the provision of better information to patients, extending user involvement in service development and the better co-ordination of service delivery through care management approaches.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Clinical Trials Unit Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Journal or Publication Title:	AIDS Care
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
ISSN:	0954-0121
Official Date:	1996
Dates:	Date Event 1996 Published 1 January 1996 Accepted
Volume:	8
Number:	4
Page Range:	pp. 467-478
DOI:	10.1080/09540129650125650
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

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