Families and HIV medication adherence

Abstract

The arrival of highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) has heralded an era in which AIDS, once a specter of imminent death, has become a serious but survivable illness to those with access to ART. However, optimal adherence to ART regimes is critical to their efficacy. growing literature on interventions to promote adherence points to numerous effective strategies, yet few have capitalized on the potentially powerful role of family members and the influence of family context on adherence. In this chapter, we consider the literature on ART adherence among children and then adults from a family-based perspective. We examine the factors implicated in a successful adherence to treatment and the research on interventions to promote adherence. We consider the importance of including culturally relevant factors in family-based treatment and conclude with a case example exemplifying the potency of clinical care that embraces patients within their family context.