Summary of Study Session 23

In Study Session 23, you have learned that:

1. Adherence to HIV care and treatment is essential for improving the health and quality of life of PLHIV.
2. Adherence to treatment means taking the right drugs at the right dose and prescribed frequency.
3. Adherence to ART is unique, in that for optimal treatment it requires 100% strict adherence.
4. The result of poor adherence to ART is the development of resistance to the drugs, which leads to more difficult options for future treatment.
5. There are factors relating to the patients’ life circumstances, their family, their community, and the behaviour of health workers that affect adherence negatively and positively, and you need to identify them to help your patients on ART in the community.
6. Before starting ART, there are essential issues such as adherence preparation and education that need to be discussed with patients.
7. In adherence follow-up meetings, one of your responsibilities is to calculate the percentage adherence of your patients and encourage them to maintain good adherence.