Behaviour change counselling and health promotion for youth living with HIV in Calabar, Nigeria. -

The prevalence of HIV among youths in Nigeria is 4.1% and likely to increase unless youths adopt behaviours to reduce transmission. A cost-effective, health promotional behaviour change strategy is therefore important. Little is known about health promotional behaviour change among youths living with HIV (YLH) in Nigeria. The purpose of the study was to identify the health promotion activities adopted by YLH and to determine health promotional behaviour change after behaviour change counselling (BCC). Mixed method design was used, involving qualitative (focused group discussion, in-depth interview) and intervention (counselling and education to motivate behaviour change using pre-test/post-test design). Twenty three youth living with HIV were purposively selected after obtaining ethical permission and informed consent. Eight participants preferred to participate through e-mail and telephone. Qualitative data were transcribed and analysed thematically using NVivo 9.0 while quantitative data analysis involved PASW 18.0. Themes from qualitative data were “understanding risk behaviour” and “achieving life goals”. Participants (60.9%) reported initial loss of interest in life and negligence of health promotion activities after the diagnosis but reported engaging in behaviours inimical to healthy living, as shown in responses “I had unprotected sex with my friend; why use condoms when we are both HIV-positive?” and “Why take the medications if I will not live long enough to fulfill my aspirations?” Overall scores on health promotion activities increased significantly after the intervention (p < 0.001). We conclude that behaviour change counselling enhances engagement in health promotion activities and positive living in youths living with HIV infection.