Whole-Person Approaches to HIV Prevention and Care

Status neutral, or hereinafter referred to a whole-person approach to HIV prevention and care, emphasizes high-quality care to engage and retain people in services regardless if the services are for HIV treatment or prevention. A whole-person approach continually addresses the healthcare and social service needs of all people affected by HIV so that they can achieve and maintain optimal health and well-being.

About a Whole-Person approach to HIV prevention and care

Whole-person approaches to HIV prevention and care were first introduced by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as a comprehensive system of prevention that includes all people who can benefit from HIV prevention and care services, regardless of their HIV status. With a whole-person approach, staff engage clients and assess their needs prior to conducting an HIV test. This  approach to health care and service delivery focuses on the needs of the person through provision of comprehensive services that meet people where they are regardless of their HIV status.

Social determinants of health affect the risk of acquiring HIV. A whole-person approach aims to provide “comprehensive support and care to address the social determinants of health that create disparities, especially as they relate to HIV.” Such offerings might include safe and stable housing, mental health services, food security, legal support, and risk reduction counseling. Individuals from communities disproportionately affected by HIV should be able to access and/or easily navigate priority services without requiring an HIV test first. Whole-person approaches recognize the influence of social determinants of health and prioritize innovative, person-focused care to address not only HIV prevention and treatment, but also to address all barriers to staying healthy. 

A whole-person approach also seeks to address social and structural barriers to engagement in prevention services (e.g., harm reduction), biomedical prevention (e.g., PrEP), and HIV care and treatment (e.g., ART). It aims to prioritize opportunities to address the needs of everyone in a community by providing or linking to comprehensive, state-of-the-art sexual health and supportive services. Ultimately, whole-person approaches promote health equity by putting client needs above HIV status to improve care and minimize stigma.