NAT is the UK’s leading charity dedicated to transforming society’s response to HIV. They provide fresh thinking, expertise and practical resources. They champion the rights of people living with HIV and campaign for change.
Shaping Attitudes – Challenging Injustice – Changing Lives
The case for HIV Support Services project is focused on developing an agreed minimum pathway for non-clinical HIV support services. These support services are designed to meet a range of psychological needs of people living with HIV in the UK. The three phases of the project will:
- Identify those services most valued by people living with HIV service providers and clinicians;
- Develop the evidence base for the efficacy of these services and an evidence-based care pathway for non-clinical HIV support services;
- Undertake a gap analysis to establish what services local authorities are currently commissioning and how these compare to the recommended pathway;
The project will develop tools which will enable commissioners to commission the right services to meet the needs of people living with HIV, and for third sector HIV support services to make the case for the provision of quality HIV services.
NAT are undertaking this major project following a formal request from the HIV Providers Forum, a national network of HIV service provision organisations.
All people with HIV will benefit from these support services being constantly available and to a high standard. There will be a particular benefit to those people with HIV in poverty or difficult social circumstances, and those with poor mental/emotional health.
This project will establish the framework for future evaluation of support services, whether levels of investment, or of the range and types of intervention commissioned, as well as the appropriate outcome measures to be included in the planning and commissioning of such services.
