“It was giving them a feeling that they're not alone in this”: Perspectives of caregivers and clinicians on a camp for UK adolescents with HIV

There are a number of challenges for adolescents living with perinatally acquired HIV (PAH), including adherence to antiretroviral medication and managing HIV stigma. Offering psychosocial interventions residentially (camps) is one approach offered to some adolescents with chronic illness as a way to reduce isolation, increase self-esteem and wellbeing, enhance medication adherence and increase condition- specific knowledge. There have been studies on the experiences of young people with HIV who have attended camps but no studies exploring the view of other key informants. Examining the perceptions of caregivers and clinicians of young people with PAH who have attended camps may provide a fuller picture of the experience and impact of camps for young people, allowing for corroboration or comparison between the views of different informants. We interviewed seven caregivers and eight clinicians of eleven young people who had attended a UK intensive support camp, analysing data using thematic analysis. These eleven young people had been sampled representatively. Participants referred to expectations that they had before the young person had attended camp, their perception of the young person's experience there, as well as the perceived impact of the camp. Perceived benefits of the camp covered social (relationships and communication), psychological (independence, empowerment, confidence), cognitive (HIV knowledge), and health behaviour (ART adherence) domains. The study revealed benefits of camps that corroborate the views of young people. Future studies could explore the similarities and differences in experiences between low and high HIV prevalence settings.