Delivered at Sex, Drugs & Scotland's Health Virtual Conference, this presentation was delivered by Eseoghene Johnson. More information about the virtual event is available here: http://ow.ly/YntW50GWhJ0

2. The Experience of aging with HIV in care services in Scotland interview
study was conducted as part of the fulfilment of a masters degree in
public health.
In Scotland, survey carried out by Health Protection Scotland (HPS)
estimates 5,352 people are living with HIV (HPS, 2019). With multiple
interventions, 91% these people are aware of their status with 90% of
these diagnosed persons on ARTs and 94% being virally suppressed.
This mean more people that ever are now living longer with HIV and
going into long term care services in their older ages.
The objective of this research was therefore to explore the lived
experience of quality of care received by people living with HIV in care
services in Scotland and their experiences of stigma and/or
discrimination.

3.  The research was conducted with the support of Waverly Care and
HIV Scotland (for the promotion of the research and recruitment of
study participants.)
 Qualitative research methods using interviews allowed for an in-
depth exploration of research question.
 The study population was defined as people aged 50 years and
above living with HIV and resident in care homes or supported
living accommodations across Scotland.
 The study aimed to recruit 4 participant’s but ended up recruiting 2
participants due to the limited time constraint for a master’s
dissertation and the impact of COVID-19 on accessing participants
living in care homes or supported living accommodations.
 Data was gathered and recorded through MS Teams interviews
then transcribed, coded and analysed by the primary researcher

4. Following the thematic analysis of the data gathered from the semi-
structured one-to-one interviews with research participants, five main
themes emerged:
 Presence of support networks in care settings
 Satisfaction of the care service provision
 Expectations of care service provision
 Zero experiences of Stigma and discrimination
 Sense of Identity and Individuality

5.  Support networks in care setting (refered to the need and the presence
of peer support and social connections in and/or festered by the care
service providers)
 Satisfaction of the care service provision (highlighted the safety and
satisfaction the research participants get from accessing services
regardless of their HIV status)
 Expectations of care service provision (expectations of what care
services would be like as people living with HIV- unknown)
 Zero experiences of Stigma and discrimination (absence of
discrimination or stigma in care service provision and interrelations
between care staff and research participants and/or between care
residents and research participants)
 Sense of Identity and Individuality (the ownership and retention of
individuality by the research participants which improved the care
delivery, willingness to access services and also fostered overall care
service quality)

6. The major limitation of the study is the sample size, which only had 2
research participants. Having a larger sample size would have given more
robust and transferable insight into the research question.
 In light of this, the research findings suggests that the plans to create a
stigma free social care system in Scotland are on a considerably right
track and therefore suggest the maintenance of current systems with
improvements only in achieving higher satisfaction rates of the care
services being offered to the persons living with HIV.
 Having care staff and providers who are well trained and
knowledgeable around living with HIV and the care services provision
to people living with HIV is paramount.
 In the continuous creation and delivery of quality social care services
to people living with HIV, having a proper system of empowering and
engaging with service users is vital in ensuring the successful
planning, implementation and sustainability of service provision to
people aging with HIV in care services.