Resources for People Living with HIV

Once you receive a diagnosis of HIV, the most important next step is to get into medical care. These organizations can help you locate HIV providers and services near you.

• The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program helps people with HIV who have nowhere else to turn for health care. You can search for free or low-cost medical care even if you don’t have health insurance.
• The American Academy of HIV Medicine site allows users to search for medical providers by specialty and by type of payment accepted.

Receiving support and learning about how other people living with HIV have handled their diagnosis may be helpful. These resources can help you locate HIV services near you.

• TheBody.com offers a brief overview on finding services near you, with a service locator from HIV.gov, and a list of services by state.
• CDC’s National Prevention Information Network has a database of organizations offering support services across the country, searchable by location and service type.
• The National Minority AIDS Council and POZ offer a services directory that is searchable by services provided, languages spoken, and populations served.
• For online support, TheBody.com has active forums on many topics about living with HIV.

These hotlines are available to provide information and support about living with HIV/AIDS.

• 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) offers basic info on HIV and testing in English and Spanish.  After you select your language, press 9 and then 1.  TTY service for the deaf: 1-888-232-6348
• The Health Resources and Services Administration provides a list of all state HIV/AIDS hotlines.
• AIDSinfo has health information specialists available by phone, email, and mail who provide answers to questions about HIV clinical trials and treatment.
• Project Inform has an HIV Health InfoLine with staff, many of whom live with or are impacted by HIV, to provide insight and support.  (This is a call-back service – leave a message and your call will be returned.)

HIV treatment involves taking medicines that slow the progression of the virus in your body. There are many online sources of information about HIV treatment, but it’s important to use only trusted sites.

• CDC’s National Prevention Information Network has a database of organizations offering care and treatment services across the country, searchable by location and service type.
• AIDS.gov provides an overview of HIV treatment options, as well as how to choose the right regimen.
• AIDSinfo offers information on when to start HIV treatment and a list of all FDA-approved HIV medications.
• AIDSinfonet offers a series of easy-to-read fact sheets on many HIV topics, including <a href="http://www.aidsinfonet.org/fact_sheets/view/550?>medication side effects and viral load tests.
• TheBody.com has much information, blogs, and videos about HIV/AIDS treatment, including 17 top questions about starting HIV treatment.

Living with HIV can bring up a lot of questions and concerns, especially about how to pay for treatment. These resources offer information and help.

• The CDC has an overview of the Affordable Care Act for people living with HIV/AIDS.
• Greater Than AIDS answers commonly asked questions on many ways to get health insurance.
• If you’re on Medicare, their site page explains how to get drug coverage.
• TARGET Center offers videos and online cost calculators to help you understand options for lowering the cost of health insurance.

The conditions in which people with HIV live and work help them have healthy lives.  You can find information on securing employment and housing through these pages.

• The U.S. Department of Labor offers a number of resources on employment options for people with HIV.
• HIV.gov offers advice on getting a new job or returning to work and finding stable housing.
• Business Responds to AIDS offers tools for businesses to reduce stigma and prevent discrimination against employees with HIV.

Telling others that you have HIV can be difficult, but it is an important part of managing your infection. 

• CDC’s HIV Testing page includes a section about sharing positive test results with others and a brochure on notifying partners.
• The U.S. Department of Justice explains HIV/AIDS anti-discrimination laws and how to file an HIV/AIDS discrimination complaint.
• CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign fights stigma by showing that persons with HIV are real people.
• HIV.gov offers advice on supporting someone with HIV.
• The Health Resources and Services Administration provides a history of stigma and the Ryan White HIV Program and a videos of stories from the program.

If you are living with HIV, it’s important to make choices that keep you healthy and protect others.

• CDC has pages on HIV prevention and condoms, PEP, and PrEP, and HIV and STD testing resources.
• CDC also offers information on sexually transmitted diseases, including chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhea, HPV, syphilis, hepatitis, and hepatitis and HIV.

To help manage your mental health when living with HIV, it is important to know when, how, and where to get help.

• Womenshealth.gov provides information on mental health & HIV/AIDS, including topics like depression, brain function, other mental health issues, and suggestions for help.
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a behavioral health treatment services locator and helpline.
• CDC provides basic information on mental health, including mental illness and mental health indicators.
• You can learn more about depression from CDC, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Mayo Clinic.
• Harvard Medical School offers info on meditation to ease anxiety and mental stress.

Substance use can be harmful to your health and well-being when living with HIV. You can find help and resources for reducing or stopping substance use from the following.

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has a treatment locator and national helpline for those facing substance abuse and mental health issues. It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• SAMHSA also provides a buprenorphine treatment locator and an opioid treatment program directory.
• CDC offers guidance to help people reduce or stop substance abuse, including people living with HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS can affect LBGT populations in different ways. You can learn more from these resources.

• CDC provides information about HIV in gay and bisexual Men and transgender people, and on the health of LGBT youth. 
• CDC’s Start Talking. Stop HIV. campaign encourages gay and bisexual men to talk about HIV prevention.
• The U.S. Department of Justice has materials about protecting the rights of LGBTI individuals (LGBTI brochure, LGBTI presentation).

A growing number of people aged 50 and older in the United States are living with HIV infection.  You can learn more about aging with HIV from these resources.

• The Graying of AIDS has much information on aging with HIV.
• Age Is Not a Condom offers information about staying healthy with HIV as you age and other resources.
• CDC has a fact sheet on HIV Among People Aged 50 and Over.
• The National Institute on Aging has an overview of Aging with HIV.

In addition to staying in care and on treatment, there are many things you can do to stay healthy and live well.

• Learn about heart disease from CDC, HIV and Heart Health from AIDS.gov, and the Million Hearts campaign to protect your cardiovascular health.
• For info on nutrition from AIDS InfoNet, download brochures on and food safety from AIDS.gov.
• AIDS Infonet has a fact sheet on exercise and HIV.
• Flu.gov has general information on the flu and how to avoid it.
• CDC offers help on quitting smoking and Tips from Former Smokers.  Be Tobacco Free also has advice on quitting.
• CDC has information on dry mouth, oral cancer, tooth decay, thrush, and gum disease.
• CDC provides on overview of opportunistic infections.

About 1.1 million people in the US are living with HIV, and 1 in 7 of them don’t know it.  Learn more facts and figures about different population in the U.S.

• CDC provides an overview of HIV in the U.S., and details its effect on women,  gay and bisexual men,  African Americans,  American Indians and Alaska Natives,  Asians,  Latinos, and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S.
• amfAR offers Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS: Snapshots of an Epidemic.
• CDC also provides advice on traveling abroad with HIV.