Explore Practice Tips

HIV care providers can help increase retention in care by:

• Communicating with patients nonjudgmentally to identify their specific barriers to retention.
• Guiding patients to identify possible changes that would eliminate or reduce the barrier.
• Strategizing with patients to identify new goals and healthy behaviors.

To foster patient trust, health care providers can:

• Engage with patients in a direct, nonjudgmental, and supportive manner.
• Use open-ended questions to involve patients in decision making regarding their HIV treatment and overall care.
• Include simple actions during patient encounters to foster communication, such as asking how a patient prefers to be addressed.

HIV care providers have the opportunity to allow open communication and collaborative decision making by:

• Encouraging patients to access resources and solve problems independently.
• Fostering discussions about substance use, sexual behavior, and mental health.
• Providing referrals when appropriate, and assessing patient willingness to complete the referral.