Abstract

Background: ‘Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre’ (ICTC) to provide services to all clients under one roof. An ICTC is a place where a person is counselled and tested for HIV, of his own free will or as advised by a medical provider. Counselling is supposed to help HIV positive person by providing them support and linking them with treatment facilities. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the role of counseling services provided at ICTC for HIV positive persons in coping with their HIV positive status Methodology: The present study was a cross sectional study carried out at Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC), Govt. Medical College, Amritsar from 1st Jan’09 to 31st Dec’09. The HIV positive persons who came to collect their positive reports were interviewed by the authors. Results: Majority of respondents were males (61.2%), currently married (73.6%), belonged to upper lower socio economic status(64.2%). Most of them felt either depressed (62%) or sad (42.7%) after knowing their HIV positive status and they perceived it as a death sentence. After counseling session, there was a decrease in negative feelings and 77.3% reported having a more positive attitude towards life. 62.7% became aware of HIV treatment facilities available after counseling while other aspects of awareness during counseling included, modes of spread of HIV (50.9%), precautions to be taken to prevent spread (39.8%) and misconceptions about HIV (15.3%). Conclusion: Counseling plays an important role in providing support to HIV positive persons in coping up with their HIV positive status.

Authors and Affiliations