ABSTRACT

What it is like to live with HIV in the global north has changed dramatically over the last two decades. There have been significant developments in the treatment and prevention of HIV, and the healthcare landscape continues to evolve. This chapter intends to highlight some of the impact of such changes on people living with HIV, who are accessing healthcare in the United Kingdom (UK). Initiating conversations with the contributors to this chapter commenced by asking them to recount part of their story using healthcare services that was particularly poignant, memorable or important to them – what stands out to you? was the question. The good, the bad and the ugly encounters with health and social care came forth in response. Through sharing and discussing some of their helpful and hindering experiences of health services, HIV or otherwise, what could be seen as some of the common psychological challenges associated with living with HIV were also illuminated. This chapter aims to bring attention to the lived experience of people living with HIV and the care they receive; to consider what works – and what does not. The contributors to this chapter have all helped to achieve this aim. Other first-hand accounts of healthcare experiences, published elsewhere, have also been drawn upon.