The human side of antiretroviral adherence:: Psychosocial aspects

The adoption of antiretroviral therapies has transformed AIDS into a chronic disease, and despite the decrease in mortality and increase in survival, adherence to treatment remains a constant challenge, as adherence is a complex and multifactorial problem that forces us to reflect on biopsychosocial, economic, and cultural issues. Our objective with this study was to analyze the psychological and social aspects that may influence treatment adherence in patients living with HIV/AIDS undergoing antiretroviral therapy at three different stages of treatment. AIDS, with its particularities (the disease of the other, of silence, of secrecy, of discrimination, of exclusion), presents serious difficulties related to self-care and the freedom to rebuild one's identity after diagnosis, tending to mark a sense of loneliness in the face of the impoverishment of supportive relationships-both family and social.