Interventions and approaches to integrating HIV and mental health services: a systematic review

This systematic review draws upon the frequency in which HIV and AIDS and mental health problems co-occur and highlights the need for effective care models combining services for HIV and mental health. This review synthesizes the literature on interventions and approaches integrating these services.

Key messages

• Available literature on interventions integrating HIV and mental health services reveal that there is much diversity in the approaches adopted in combining treatment modalities; ranging from integration within a single facility, to multi-facility integration, and integrated care coordinated by non-physician case managers.

• Existing evidence, although limited, suggest that integrating HIV and mental health services may be linked to improved patient and service delivery outcomes in diverse settings.

• There is a need for higher quality and robustly designed studies to evaluate and compare integration models at different levels of service delivery in terms of long-term impact on patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness, particularly in low- and middle-income countries with high HIV and AIDS burden.