HIV in MOTION: a community of practice on physical rehabilitation for and by people living with HIV and their allies.
Francisco Ibáñez-Carrasco, Tizneem Jiancaro, Brittany Torres and 7 others
PMID 37869573WHAT IT FOUND
People living with HIV and clinicians described an online community as a space where patient stories challenged somber medical narratives.
Participants reported increased knowledge and new collaborations, though the project lacked long-term funding and faced team burnout.
Key findings
01The community of practice hosted eight online sessions over two years, attracting 451 live participants, including 173 people living with HIV and 67 clinical healthcare providers.
02Evaluation respondents reported that the sessions helped them connect with others and apply the information to their work, such as incorporating exercise into support groups.
03Participants valued the inclusion of patient storytelling, which helped clinicians see the resilience and lived experience of people living with HIV beyond standard medical narratives.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study did not receive ethical approval because the authors classified participants as community members rather than research subjects, which limits the formalizability of the data. The evaluation relied on self-reported data from a subset of attendees (67 out of 451), which may introduce selection bias. The project lacked long-term funding, leading to burnout and an inability to sustain the community after the initial research period. The authors did not measure clinical outcomes or changes in patient health, only knowledge and connections.
Declared interests
The work was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the positive participant feedback as evidence that this community improves patient health outcomes or clinical skills. The study measured satisfaction and connections, not clinical efficacy or patient well-being.