When a person is diagnosed with HIV, it can feel incredibly devastating. While HIV is no longer a “death sentence” as it was in the past, being told you have an incurable disease can take a toll on your mental health, and greatly affect how you live your everyday life. The foremost source of support for HIV-infected individuals is their loved ones – family and friends. Here are three tips from an hiv clinic in singapore on how to care for people living with HIV/AIDS.
1. Be mindful of prejudice and discrimination
There is still a huge stigma surrounding HIV. When you are a caretaker of someone who has HIV, you need to learn the facts about the virus and be aware of your preconceived notions, to empathise with and support the HIV-positive individual.
Of most notable importance is the ways HIV can be transmitted. Some family members of HIV-positive individuals misunderstand the nature of the virus and become wary of how they interact with the patient.
HIV cannot be transmitted through food or water, by sharing utensils and cutlery, by saliva, or by physical contact (such as hugging, shaking hands or holding people). The only way HIV can be transmitted through sexual intercourse or through injections.
Knowing this, caretakers should not avoid contact or conversation with patients. Instead, they should treat patients much like how they would treat them without HIV, to make them feel safe and understood.
2. Encourage the patient to live a healthy lifestyle
HIV-infected individuals are not impaired from physical activity. Instead, they should be encouraged to perform physical exercise that they enjoy, as long as it is not likely to sustain the injuries. Light physical activities, such as jogging, dancing and playing light sports (e.g. frisbee and badminton) are advised to help the patient’s body remain active and healthy. Patients with HIV should consult with their doctors on their physical activities.
Patients should also try to consume a healthy and balanced diet. It is important to know patients’ food preferences – what they like and dislike – and help them plan their diet around that. A patient’s diet does not need to drastically change, especially when they’re in their initial stages of an HIV infection. Encourage the patient to eat regularly, but do not force them to eat, as that can be stressful and discouraging.
Also, discourage them from alcohol and smoking, as those activities increase the body’s vulnerability to infections.
3. Have direct and upfront conversations about their treatment and their lives
Be supportive. A patient appreciates nothing more than people who treat them as they would any other person without HIV. Ask them about their day, about their lives. Find out more about them as people. Sometimes, an illness brings a family closer together, rather than separate them apart.
Also, help them with their treatment. Bring them to their appointment with the doctor. Remind them to take their medication. Speak to them about their treatment, and how they feel about every session.
Help them live their lives to the fullest.
