Millions of people in the United States who disproportionately experience high degrees of structural violence and vulnerability are unable to access essential care for their mental health needs, which has profound implications on both their psychological wellbeing and their physical health. To bridge these gaps in communities across the country, primary care providers with the skills and knowledge to diagnose and manage depressive, anxiety, and trauma disorders are desperately needed. In this series of four webinars, we will cover common mental health conditions in people with HIV, with an emphasis on diagnosis and evidence-based treatment strategies for use in the primary care setting. The relationship between these mental health conditions and HIV will be explored, and providers will gain an understanding of how their care of people with HIV is affected by the appropriate identification and treatment of mental health concerns. The impacts of common psychotropic medications for these conditions on HIV treatment will also be identified.

Mental Health & HIV Webinar Series Part 1: Addressing Depression in People with HIV
Thursday, May 12, 5-6 pm ET

Join Dr. Cournos for the start of our series on providing mental health care to people with HIV in primary care settings. Learn about the importance of addressing depression in this population and how to do so effectively using evidence-based approaches to diagnosing and treating depressive illnesses. We’ll also discuss how to differentiate major depression from bipolar disorders and how their treatments differ. Finally, we’ll look into the latest evidence on how treating depression impacts both mental health and HIV outcomes.

Mental Health and HIV Webinar Series Part 2: Pharmacotherapy for Depression
Thursday, May 19, 5-6 pm ET

How do you choose an antidepressant? And what do you do if it doesn’t work? In this webinar, we’ll discuss an evidence-based approach you can use to decide which medication is best for your patient depending on context, symptoms, and comorbidities. You’ll learn more about the most commonly prescribed antidepressants, including their impact on the management of HIV. We’ll also look at the strategies you can use when a medication hasn’t worked out as planned, from adjusting to switching to augmenting.

Mental Health and HIV Webinar Series Part 3: Anxiety Disorders
Thursday, May 26, 5-6 pm ET

Anxiety disorders have a significant impact on the quality-of-life of people with HIV and other structurally vulnerable populations and directly increases the risk of suicide when untreated. In this webinar, you’ll learn how to appropriately diagnose and effectively treat the most common anxiety disorders in primary care.

Mental Health and HIV Webinar Series Part 4: Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
Thursday, June 2, 5-6 pm ET

Trauma plays an outsized role in many more clinical interactions than we think. In order to provide effective HIV care, or any care for that matter, we must gain an understanding of trauma and begin to provide trauma-informed care to all of our patients. In this webinar, we’ll discuss the pervasiveness of trauma among people with HIV and the principles of care necessary to avoid doing harm. We’ll also discuss specific trauma disorders like PTSD and how to diagnose and treat them.

Check out the topic page, Mental Health and HIV, from NEAETC's online HIV Resource Library

AAFP Accreditation Statement: Each session is approved for 1 In-Person, Live (could include online) AAFP Prescribed credit.

AMA/AAFP Equivalency: AAFP Prescribed credit is accepted by the American Medical Association as equivalent to AMA PRA Category 1 credit(s)™ toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. When applying for the AMA PRA, Prescribed credit earned must be reported as Prescribed, not as Category 1.

Funding: This program is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under grant number U1OHA29294 (AIDS Education and Training Centers) awarded to the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This information of content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.