Two vignettes of adolescent sexual disclosure: guidance for HIV clinical practice

HIV-positive adolescents are required by law to notify sexual partners, but can find it difficult to achieve this goal. This article offers practice guidance for counselling HIV-positive adolescents about sexual disclosure in clinical settings and for building confidence in managing sexual lives with HIV. We use two vignettes to illustrate key differences between perinatally and sexually infected adolescents in terms of readiness to disclose, and include a set of strategies for both groups that can be tailored to individual circumstances and contexts. The toolbox of strategies we describe include pre-counselling, focused counselling, social support groups and technical support. Pre-counselling helps to identify barriers and motivations to sexual disclosure and is followed by counselling sessions in which the focus is on role playing and sexual scripts for disclosure. Peer-led support groups are designed to boost adolescent confidence, and pre-paid cell phones, text messaging, ready-dial phone numbers and a private Facebook page provide back-up support and out-of-hours contact. Since sexual disclosure can be a risky proposition, safety plans, such as having an emergency contact person, should always be in place. These strategies are designed to empower vulnerable adolescents, foster trust between patient and provider, and reduce HIV transmission to sexual partners.