ABSTRACT
The fields of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) medicine and palliative care have both seen dramatic changes over the past 40 years. Prior to 1996, when the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy began, care for patients with AIDS consisted of symptom management and support, while patients rapidly declined and died. As HIV infection became a chronic disease rather than a rapidly fatal one, palliative care and HIV treatment became less intertwined. Principles of palliative care, including a holistic approach to patient care, excellent pain, and symptom management, focus on patient-centered goals of care and psychosocial and spiritual support, and open and honest discussion about end-of-life preferences can offer many benefits to patients living with HIV infection and its related comorbidities throughout the course of the disease. Principles of care for the individuals include weighing risks and benefits of medical treatments carefully in light of relative contributions to quality of life compared with burdens of medical interventions.
