Effect of social support in the lives of adults with HIV/AIDS

Objective: examining the effect of social support in the lives of adults with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Methods: the integrative literature review was performed in six databases, between the months from August to October 2014. There were used the descriptors AIDS and social support, in Portuguese, English or Spanish, and the Boolean operator and. There were found 1561 articles and selected 33. Results: it was identified that the social support has a positive effect on mental health, adherence to antiretroviral therapy, health status, quality of life and maintaining of safe sex. Conclusion: it is considered that the establishment of deeper relationships between social support and other aspects of life of people with HIV/AIDS can be used to promote the health of these individuals, in order to decrease morbidity and improve survival of these patients.