New website to support people living with HIV

15 November 2006

A new website to support people living with HIV has been launched in the run up to World AIDS Day (1 December 2006).

The website (www.dipex.org/hiv) allows people to watch video clips and listen to real patients as they talk about their experience of living with HIV.  It has been developed by The City University, London, working with the DIPEx charity in Oxford and collaborating with Homerton University Hospital and University College Hospital. Homerton’s Dr Jane Anderson was one of the investigators for the website.

To create the HIV website researchers interviewed 50 people living with HIV from around the UK.  This sample reflects the diversity of the HIV patient population in the UK and includes gay men as well as people from African communities. 

Dr Damien Ridge, an experienced qualitative researcher conducted the interviews which explored the participants’ experience of HIV infection including their diagnosis, use of services, disclosure of their HIV status, stigma and discrimination.

Their accounts are freely available as video and audio “clips” 24-hours a day on the new HIV website. These are supported by explanatory text, answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ), as well as signposts to support groups and other resources.

DIPEx was launched in January 2001. The DIPEx Internet site contains video and audio clips of 31 health topics including cancers, heart disease, mental health, neurological conditions, chronic illness and now HIV.  The site has received over seven million hits in the last six months alone.

Professor Jonathan Elford, of The City University, who led the research said: “HIV remains a highly stigmatised illness despite treatment advances. In 2005, there were over 7000 new diagnoses of HIV in the UK. Not surprisingly people with HIV often feel anxious and can be afraid of asking professionals and support groups for help.

“Being able to hear the stories of other people with HIV on the Internet can give hope, a sense of not being alone, and provide helpful advice. These first hand accounts will also give relatives, friends and carers – as well as the wider public – a better understanding of what people with HIV go through.”

To develop the HIV website, The City University collaborated with the DIPEx charity, Oxford University, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, University College London and a number of community organisations.  The City University’s St Bartholomew School of Nursing & Midwifery funded the study with additional support from the Department of Health, gaydar and the Terrence Higgins Trust.