In July 2021, we complete From Now On a short form film-based intervention that provides men who receive an HIV-positive test result with examples of other men living healthy, ‘normal’ lives on treatment, and creates strong positive associations between treatment and the achievement of life goals and aspirations via emotive images, such as of men with their families.
The idea for the video emerged during formative research by the South African Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) on factors influencing HIV treatment uptake among individuals living with HIV in Cape Town. Findings showed that learning about people living healthy, normal lives while they were on HIV treatment was a powerful motivator for starting treatment, but that this awareness was typically gained by chance, if at all.
The video narratives provide a means to counter some of the psychosocial barriers to treatment that our formative research identified at the time of diagnosis, including internalised stigma, fears about treatment side-effects, and an array of fears around loss: loss of normalcy, loss of status, loss of relationships with friends, and loss of loved ones.
Read more about the project in this article by SALDRU researcher Brendan Maughan-Brown.
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