Alternative Therapies: A Common Practice among Men and Women Living with HIV

The Meaning and Perceived Value of Mind-Body Practices for People Living With HIV: A Qualitative Synthesis

“…Other studies of CAM users have shown similar attitudes toward practices as selfnurturing activities (Barrett et al, 2003;Nichol, Thompson, & Shaw, 2011). It seems as though PLWH also use therapies to manage viral symptoms and treatment side effects, a finding that has been repeatedly shown in surveys (Gore-Felton et al, 2003;Owen-Smith et al, 2012;Tsao et al, 2005). Therefore, it is possible that people accessing therapies for symptom control may be preventing the problems that medication nonadherence causes.…”

“…Systematic review has demonstrated that lifetime CAM use in this population has ranged from 30% to 90% and that, within the previous 6-12 months, 15%-100% of PLWH had accessed a CAM intervention (Lorenc & Robinson, 2013). Prevalence and predictors of CAM use in PLWH have been heavily researched (Agnoletto, Chiaffarino, Nasta, Rossi, & Parazzini, 2006;Gore-Felton et al, 2003;Owen-Smith, McCarty, Hankerson-Dyson & DiClemente, 2012;Tsao, Dobalian, Myers, & Zeltzer, 2005), so much so that Standish & Banks (2006) criticized the volume of this type of research, in light of the relatively few clinical trials in the HIV CAM field. The results of systematic reviews seem to validate this, demonstrating insufficient evidence to direct practice (Hoogbruin, 2011;Mills, Wu, & Ernst, 2005).…”

A Self-Management Framework to Assess the Need for Nutritional Supplementation in People Living with HIV/AIDS

“…The HIV-positive female caregivers were also more likely to report lower physical quality of life scores. Women generally tend to take on a caregiver role; therefore, it is not surprising that to help maintain their body's stamina, women living with HIV/AIDS are more likely to use over-the-counter products such as multivitamins and minerals compared with men [15,17,21].…”

“…Patients with HIV/AIDS use those types of nutritional supplements in the majority of the cases [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. A CD4 T-cell count above 200 helps keep the HIV infection from progression into full-blown AIDS.…”

The Lived Experience of a Mind-Body Intervention for People Living With HIV

“…CAM use increases with higher levels of education (Barnes et al, 2004;Chang, van Servellen, & Lombardi, 2003;Wolsko, Eisenberg, Davis, & Philips, 2004), increased income (Wolsko et al, 2004), and part-time or full-time employment (Chang et al, 2003). Gore-Felton et al (2003) reported that women were four times more likely to use alternative therapies than men, and individuals who had ever used CAM were primarily White. On the other hand, Barnes et al (2004) reported that African American adults (71.3%) were extensive users of CAM.…”