The development of a multidisciplinary, evidence-based guideline for “HIV and employment”

The objective of this study was to develop a multidisciplinary guideline that supports the care and vocational rehabilitation of HIV-infected people with employment-related problems. The guideline was developed according to the “evidence-based guideline development” method developed by the Dutch Institute for Health Care Improvement. This method consists of the following steps: forming a multidisciplinary core group and an expert panel, formulating key questions, searching and appraising the available literature, formulating considerations and recommendations, peer reviewing the draft guideline, and authorizing the final guideline. All relevant professional associations were represented in the core group that was assembled to develop the guideline, i.e., HIV doctors, HIV nurses, general practitioners, occupational health physicians, psychologists, social workers, occupational health nurses, vocational experts, and insurance physicians. Five key questions for the guideline were formulated with the followin...