Delivery of Infusion Therapies in the Home for Patients With Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Abstract

Patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) often suffer from a variety of infectious and noninfectious complications as a result of their compromised immune status. Therapies that AIDS patients may require include antimicrobial therapy, parenteral nutrition, pain management, chemotherapy, and agents to regulate hematopoiesis. Although parenteral therapies have been more traditionally administered in a hospital, technological advances, economic advantages, and patient and clinician acceptance have helped establish home infusion therapy as a viable alternative for many patients with a chronic disease such as AIDS. Providing pharmaceutical care in the home care arena to patients with AIDS not only involves patient monitoring and parenteral product preparation, but also a thorough understanding of infection control practices. Working in conjunction with other health care professionals, pharmacists play a major role in helping to assure the safe and effective delivery of the complex therapies required by many patients with AIDS in the comfort of their homes.