The goals of this research are: 1) To test the efficacy of a self-care symptom management manual by examining whether people who use the manual find it to be useful; 2) To examine symptom and demographic data related to self-care behaviors, symptom control, medication adherence and enhanced quality of life.

The University of California, San Francisco is the coordinating site for this multi-site international study.

People living with HIV/AIDS encounter many psychological, physiological, and cognitive symptoms, such as pain, diarrhea, fever, fatigue, depression, and confusion. These symptoms have been found to restrict a person's daily life significantly. Self-management of multiple HIV and medication side effects symptoms and maintaining optimal quality of life have, therefore, become major daily tasks for people living with HIV/AIDS.

This study is a randomized controlled trial with a two-group repeated measures design to test the efficacy of the symptom management manual. Two groups (experimental and control) will be assessed in a repeated measures design at 3 time points: baseline (time 0), one month (time 1), and two months (time 2). Data will be analyzed using longitudinal mixture modeling.

Comparison(s): HIV-positive patients receiving a symptom management manual and orientation to the manual, compared to HIV-positive patients receiving a nutrition manual and orientation to the manual.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosed HIV/AIDS
• Adult (men and women, transgender)
• Presence of at least one symptom within the past week
• Consent
• May or may not be pregnant
• May or may not be on ART
• Able to use the manual with or without family support

Exclusion Criteria:

• Documented diagnosis of dementia
• Unable to understand consent procedure as judged by the person getting consent
• Self-reporting no symptoms within the past week
• Self-reports having had experience with a self-care Symptom Management Manual