Affective relations and treatment adherence for HIV and problematic drug use (Argentina, 2014-2016)

Abstract: The article analyzes interactions between therapeutic experiences and affective relations in the history of patients with chronic health conditions: persons with problematic drug use receiving therapeutic care in religious devices and persons with HIV under clinical care and antiretroviral therapy. The article uses a qualitative methodology based on in-depth interviews. The hypothesis is that the treatments (pharmacological or psychological) usually prove insufficient to provide adequate therapeutic responses to these two chronic conditions. Both groups acknowledged the central importance of affective dimensions for adherence to the proposed treatment regimens and a comprehensive (and thus more effective) approach to HIV and drug addictions. The article concludes by presenting a notion of adherence that extrapolates individual behavior involving mere compliance with prescribed treatments. Adherence is less a personal than a collective experience, in which family, peer networks, and professionals and other therapeutic reference persons play a central role.