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In Kuching, there were logistic problems in recruitment as some patients who werecontacted to participate in this study lived long distances away from the FGD venue. Sexworkers in Sabah also needed a lot of persuasion to come forward as they were no longerdoing commercial sex work and wanted to leave that past behind.At the outset, a Family care-givers group was included for the FGDs. The criterion forthis group was a main care-provider for a HIV-positive person (or child) who is not HIVpositive.The premise was that HIV-positive persons who are care-givers to other HIVpositivefamily members, notably children, would be captured in one of the other groups.This was intended to recruit family members, including grandparents or adoptive parents,or friends who have taken on the care of one or more HIV-positive person(s) whose usualcare-giver has, or care-givers have, died or abandoned them. It was particularly aimed atcare-givers of HIV-positive children. Since such participants may not be clients ofNGOs which provide services to PLHIV, the approach was through doctors of HIVpatients. However, despite trying for several weeks, there were no participants who fitthe criterion and who were willing to take part in a discussion.Another problem that arose for the FGDs was the selection criteria. Despite specifyingthe criteria to contact recruiters, a few participants who turned up did not meet all thecriteria, e.g., duration since diagnosis and age. It was desirable to have an age ceiling of50 years so as to minimise the confounding effects of age on the various dimensions ofimpact, notably, physical health. However, several who turned up for the FGDs wereslightly above this age-group. Possibly, this older group is the one who has more freetime or more flexible hours. The criterion of more than six months since diagnosis, asmentioned earlier, was to avoid those in the early stages of HIV diagnosis and itsassociated experiences and emotional state. In terms of eligibility, the research team alsomet with two participants who had speech impediments; one due to stroke and anotherdue to a problem with her tongue. Since the team relied upon contact persons to recruitparticipants, and in turn, since contact persons do not have full control over who finallyattends, these situations were difficult to control.There were frequent problems of literacy and, in particular, the ability of participants tocomplete the short needs assessment questionnaire. Although initially designed to beself-administered, many PLHIV could not fill out the questionnaire on their needswithout assistance from project team members.The survey on needs was intended to be disseminated to all the organisations whichprovide services to PLHIV communities. The Malaysian AIDS Council was contacted togain access to their partner organisations for which they were very helpful. However,while there was interest in carrying out the survey, manpower limitations prevented manyorganisations from participating. Although the survey was intended to be selfadministered,service providers found that they had to assist respondents. Hence, thesurvey did not capture as many respondents as planned, i.e., all clients at participatingservice providers for a one month period.Summary profile of study participantsBy end of September, a total of 19 FGDs were conducted with 93 participants fromPLHIV communities. The FGD participants also filled out a needs assessmentquestionnaire. In addition, four FGDs were conducted with men and women from an29