Why we should care about our well-being

There are a few illnesses that are more common in people with HIV. These might be side-effects of HIV medicines or they might be a result of the HIV itself. These include certain cancers, heart disease and diabetes.  

Also, our moods and behaviour can be affected by having HIV, especially if things aren’t going so well or if we’re ill.

This means that taking care of our health is more than just a matter of popping pills and having blood tests every few months.

Little steps have given me the self-confidence to look for work - KeithUseful tools

If we want to feel as good as possible and carry on getting the most out of life, it may make sense to make some changes in certain areas of our lives, such as:

  • diet
  • exercise
  • smoking
  • drugs
  • work
  • social lives.

Whatever it is you want to change, have a look at these tools which we've found useful in helping us to plan and carry out any changes. The first one can help with planning and managing changes, while the second can help with solving any problems you might come across.

Tool 1: Planning and managing change

Set your goals

Decide what you want to achieve. Try to be as specific and realistic as possible. If your goal seems more like a dream than something achieveable, you might not even try to reach it.

Think of all the different ways to reach your goals

You can then decide which way(s) you like best and focus on these.

Create a short-term plan for achieving your goals

Decide on the specific activities you’re going to do this week to help you reach your goals. Come up with answers for the following questions:

  • exactly what are you going to do
  • how long are you going to do it for
  • when are you going to do it
  • how often are you going to do it?

Put your plan into action

If you have your plan written up, you can then cross things off as you do them. This means you can check your own progress.

Check and change

Check whether your plan is working and change if necessary. At the end of each week, you can assess whether you think you’re closer to reaching your goal. If you don’t think you’re making progress, then change your plan.

Tool 2: Solving problems

Use this list to help you solve any problems you might come across:

  1. Identify what the problem is.
  2. List ideas for solving the problem.
  3. Choose one idea.
  4. Put idea into practice.
  5. See if it works.
  6. Try another idea if the first one doesn’t work.
  7. Ask other people for ideas if yours don’t work.