TOPIC: Care & Services
OTHER KEYWORDS: Chinese, People Living with HIV/AIDS, Canada
TITLE: A Pilot Study of the Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy and Peer Support/Counseling in Decreasing Psychologic Distress and Improving Quality of Life in Chinese Patients with Symptomatic HIV Disease
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Molassiotis A, Callaghan P, Twinn SF, LamSW, Chung WY, Li CK. A Pilot Study of the Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy and Peer Support/Counseling in Decreasing Psychologic Distress and Improving Quality of Life in Chinese Patients with Symptomatic HIV Disease. AIDS Patient Care and STDs. 2002; 16(2):83-95.
SUMMARY
The paper reports on a study with 46 Chinese patients with symptomatic HIV assessing the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBT) and peer support/counseling group therapy (PSC) in relation to improving mood and quality of life and decreasing uncertainty in illness as compared to a group receiving routine treatment with no formal psychosocial intervention. The CBT group consisted of 10 subjects, the PSC group of 10 subjects, and the comparison group of 26 subjects. This study demonstrated that psychologic interventions could decrease psychologic distress and improve quality of life in symptomatic HIV patients, indicating their use should be incorporated in the management of care among people living with HIV/AIDS.