[Rehabilitation, social medical evaluation and counselling in HIV-infected patients].
An inpatient rehabilitation programme for HIV-infected patients is described. Since the early nineties some 1,200 patients with HIV infection have been treated in our internal and orthopaedic rehabilitation clinic. Beside internal and orthopaedic diagnostics, supporting compliance with antiretroviral therapy, motivating the patients for regular moderate exercises and specific nutritional counselling are major issues of the programme. From the psychological point of view, the patients are offered to aquire relaxation and stress coping techniques, to take part in non-smoking courses and to use individual psychological counselling in case of depression or panic. In addition, all HIV-infected patients are offered individual advice on their disease and necessary changes in lifestyle. Finally, the programme includes social medical evaluation and counselling. As the majority of the patients are still working or are of working age, evaluating the capacity for work and potential introduction of occupational rehabilitation measures are prominent. Almost 70 percent of the HIV-infected patients who had been treated in our clinic over the last few years were fully capable of returning to their previous occupation. Our experiences demonstrate that statements such as rehabilitation of AIDS patients being useless because of its missing prospects of success, are not up-to-date any longer. Since introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy many patients with HIV infection are able to return to their previous occupation if they receive the necessary medical und psychosocial support.
Kolenda
K-D
KD
Ostseeklinik Schönberg-Holm, Fachklinik für Rehabilitation und Prävention, Schönberg. medizin@okli-holm.de
Hoffmann
C
C
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005858:Germany; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D010343:Patient Admission; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational / Q000379:methods*; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012936:Social Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents