Decision-Making Therapy in HIV/AIDS: The African Experience

The challenge of providing relevant and sophisticated counseling interventions to people with HIV/AIDS in Africa has greatly intensified. The task has shifted from what it was deemed to entail at the first decade of the disease. Then, it was understood to involve the process of bringing healing to the emotional situation of the client demoralized by the news of infection. In addition, at that time, the emphasis was on information and education as the most commanding weapon for preventing the spread of the AIDS pandemic. But professional experiences in the second decade of the disease has clearly shown that as we work for prevention we must also develop strategies for responding to the needs and problems of people already in contact with the disease, requiring that they be started on antiviral therapy. The present article is intended to highlight and discuss the critical issues that attend and challenge the decision-making therapy of people with HIV disease in Africa.