Ancillary services for individuals living with HIV/AIDS

Providing comprehensive care to those living with HIV/AIDS remains a daunting task. Access to early HIV medical care helps to delay an AIDS diagnosis, and ancillary services can help meet the non-medical needs of HIV-positive individuals, which can ultimately impact their ability to access medical care. Some research has been done measuring ancillary service provision and primary care entry and retention; however, due to the lack of a comprehensive system of care, it has been difficult to determine the true impact of ancillary service usage and health outcomes. Additional qualitative research examining ancillary service usage, health outcomes, and quality of life needs to be done to develop a standard model of appropriate and comprehensive HIV care.