The Effectiveness of Counseling Program to HIV Patients for Invite Partner to Receive Health Counseling Services Chomthong Hospital

Abstract

        This quasi-experimental study employed a one-group pretest-posttest design with three objectives: 1) to examine the levels of AIDS knowledge and attitudes toward HIV status disclosure to sexual partners among people living with HIV (PLHIV); 2) to compare AIDS knowledge and attitudes toward HIV status disclosure to sexual partners before and after receiving a counseling program for PLHIV to invite partners to health counseling services; and 3) to examine partner-invitation behaviors among PLHIV after receiving the program. The sample consisted of 33 PLHIV receiving antiretroviral therapy at the Antiretroviral Clinic, ChomThong Hospital, Chiang Mai Province, from May to October 2024, who had not yet disclosed their HIV status to their sexual partners and whose partners had never accessed health counseling services. Participants were selected by simple random sampling. Research instruments comprised two components. The first was a counseling program for PLHIV to invite partners to health counseling services, developed in accordance with the guidelines of the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, consisting of 10 steps implemented over 4 sessions within 6 weeks. The second was a questionnaire comprising an AIDS knowledge test, an attitude assessment toward HIV status disclosure to sexual partners, and a partner-invitation behavior assessment, with an overall reliability coefficient of .85. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a paired-samples t-test.
        The findings after counseling program revealed that: 1) PLHIV had a high level of AIDS knowledge (78.18%), with the highest correct response being that AIDS is caused by HIV (84.80%), while attitudes toward HIV status disclosure to sexual partners were at a moderate level (M = 1.63, SD = .75); 2) after receiving the counseling program, PLHIV showed statistically significant increases in both AIDS knowledge scores and attitudes toward HIV status disclosure to sexual partners compared to before the program (t = -7.239 and t = -3.104, respectively; p < .05); and 3) partner-invitation behaviors among PLHIV after receiving the program were at a high level (M = 2.30, SD = .71), with perceived benefits of treatment yielding the highest mean score (M = 2.58) and perceived barriers to treatment yielding the lowest (M = 1.67).
        In conclusion, the counseling program for PLHIV to invite partners to health counseling services was effective in enhancing AIDS knowledge, promoting positive attitudes toward HIV status disclosure, and supporting partner-invitation behaviors. It is therefore recommended that this program be integrated into antiretroviral clinics and expanded to other health service settings to reduce HIV transmission at the community level.