XIVV International AIDS Conference, Mexico City 3-8 August 2008 “The way I see it”: How stigma and depression affect self-perceived body image among HIV-positive individuals on HAART AK Palmer1, EK Brandson1, W. Zhang1, KC Duncan1, V Lima1, JS Montaner1,2, RS Hogg1,3 1The British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver BC, Canada 2Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada 3Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC, Canada XIVV International AIDS Conference, Mexico City 3-8 August 2008

Background BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS opened in 1992 in response to people dying of AIDS The Drug Treatment Program is mandated by the province to manage HAART treatment LISA Cohort (Longitudinal Investigations into Supportive and Ancillary health services) - Eligible participants are HIV-positive people living in British Columbia that started treatment on HAART - Recruited through their physicians, out-patient pharmacy, AIDS service organizations, flyers and word-of-mouth - 472 participants interviewed to date 3- year grant funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) Opportunity to evaluate quality of life, side effects, the use of support services, and to learn more about the personal experiences of individuals living with HIV disease and on HAART.

The estimated probability of experiencing positive body image for all four groups

Conclusions What we have found: Food security, neighbourhood cohesion, a good standard of living in comparison to their neighbours, high scores on the quality of life scale, employment and smoking affected one’s self-perceived body image in a positive manner, but above all, stigma and depression are the deciding factors for positive body image. Where do we go from here?: There is a demonstrated need for community-level interventions to inform the public about HIV/AIDS in order to reduce stigma towards those living with HIV/AIDS. Along with addressing clinical health status, physicians should regularly assess patients’ mental health needs and be positioned to refer patients to appropriate services.