Feasibility and Acceptability of a Program to Promote Positive Affect, Well-Being and Gender Empowerment in Black Women Living with HIV.

While programs and interventions intended to increase positive affect among people living with HIV (PLWH) and other chronic diseases have been associated with improved health outcomes, including decreased depression, programs have not been tailored specifically for Black women. We tailored a program designed to increase positive affect and to decrease depressive symptoms in PLWH to a group format for Black WLWH. We also added skills to increase gender empowerment. We then tested the acceptability and feasibility of this program with 8 Black WLWH. The program was acceptable and relatively feasible, as assessed by women's participation and feedback about program clarity and helpfulness, which women rated above 9 on a 10-point scale. A few women suggested that optimal delivery point for some skills taught would be shortly after HIV diagnosis. A proof-of-concept program intended to bolster positive emotions and gender empowerment and decrease depression can be tailored for Black WLWH and is relatively feasible and acceptable. A randomized controlled trial is needed to assess the preliminary efficacy of this program on positive affect, depression, and other health outcomes for WLWH.

Feasibility and Acceptability of an Online Positive Affect Intervention for Those Living with Comorbid HIV Depression.

Positive affect has unique beneficial effects on psychological and physical health, independent of the effects of negative affect. Interventions that explicitly target positive affect show promise for improving health outcomes in a number of chronic illnesses. In this article, we present pilot data on the acceptability and feasibility of an online intervention to increase positive affect in those living with comorbid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and depression. The intervention was rated both acceptable and feasible by participants. Six of nine participants completed the intervention and the subsequent follow-up assessment and a post-intervention phone call. We also present outcomes of planned comparisons of intervention effects on emotion, which indicate that positive affect increased significantly in the intervention group. Based upon results of the current study, future research should continue the development of positive affect interventions for people living with comorbid HIV and depression.