HIV medication adherence. The intersection of biomedical, behavioral, and social science research and clinical practice

Abstract

The unique nature of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the needs of people living with HIV disease have required the expertise of clinicians and biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social scientists. The successes achieved in the past 25 years are the collective product of committed individuals from within all these disciplines. This is particularly true in HIV care and therapeutics and, specifically, in medication adherence, where biologic, clinical, behavioral, and social issues converge and each has been critically important in achieving the stunning therapeutic benefit for individuals and populations with HIV disease. There has been growing acceptance and success of interdisciplinary collaboration to address HIV medication adherence in the past 2 decades. Nevertheless, there remain real and perceived impediments obstructing collaboration among biomedical, behavioral, and social scientists and important differences between all these research domains and clinical practice. Differences in training and expertise, perceived mission, orientation, culture, and personal and professional skills can thwart meaningful collaboration or be used synergistically to move understanding and improvement of HIV medication adherence forward. This article explores these relations and differences from the perspective of an HIV clinician and clinical researcher with a background in biology and an inclination toward behavioral and social science and suggests some approaches for their resolution.