HEALTH-CARE NEEDS OF PERSONS WITH HIV AIDS IN VARIOUS SETTINGS/

This study describes the psychosocial and physiological health care ne eds of persons with HIV/AIDS in hospital, outpatient home care, and lo ng-term care settings. A cross-sectional descriptive design with 386 p atients selected from the four settings was used to test between-setti ng differences on Healthcare Needs Scales. Univariate analyses of vari ance of scale and subscale scores and Kruskal-Wallis analyses of varia nce by ranks on item scores were computed. There was neither a relatio nship between psychosocial and physiological health care needs nor a d istinctive pattern of needs across settings by HIV classification. The patients' needs varied between settings on health behaviors/social su pport, health management, and elimination/physical/sensory functions b ut were guile similar in psychosocial/financial support and neurologic al/digestive functions. These results question assumptions about the r elationships among stage of HIV infection, level and type of health ca re need, and type of setting and suggest that health system resources and nursing care focus on both the psychosocial and physiological need s of persons with HIV/AIDS using individualized protocols.