A psychological intervention for HIV patients in addition to medical treatment

INTERVENTION: The intervention is called Avanti. Avanti is a web‐based self‐help program that is designed to improve and manage HIV patients' symptoms of depression and well‐being. Avanti consists of 13 sessions and lasts for 4 weeks. Once a user is registered he or she will receive an email every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with a unique link to each new session. Every session consists of unique content. The intervention contains psychoeducative information and applies techniques, and exercises from positive psychology and metacognitive therapy. These techniques and exercises are designed to improve well‐being and manage negative emotions and thoughts. However, Avanti is not intended as a replacement but rather a supplement to existing treatments. The control group did not receive any intervention other than medical treatment as usual. Control participants were, however, given access to Avanti when the final survey data were collected. CONDITION: Patients infected with HIV for more than 12 months. ; Infections and Infestations ; Human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] disease PRIMARY OUTCOME: 1. Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D; Radloff, 1977); 2. Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985); 3. Positive & Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clarke & Tellegen, 1988); ; All participants were measures on primary outcomes on baseline, 1, and 3 months post‐intervention enrollment. SECONDARY OUTCOME: No secondary outcome measures INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Patients registered at the outpatient clinic at Department of Infectious Diseases, Ullevål, Oslo University Hospital 2. 18 years or older 3. Norwegian ‐ speaking 4. White ‐ caucasian 5. HIV infected 6. Not infected by drug use 7. On antiretroviral therapy >12 months prior to inclusion