PSYCHOSOCIAL RESPONSES AMONG PERSONS WITH HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS INFECTION (IMMUNE DEFICIENCY).
Contributors: University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 127
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, Social.
Description: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Disease/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has become a major medical and social problem. While there has been much research on biological aspects of HIV, little systematic investigation has been conducted on the many and varied psychosocial responses to HIV. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe psychosocial responses to being infected with HIV as reported by HIV infected persons.

Ten adults, infected with HIV for 4 month to 5 years, comprised the sample. During an interview, participants were audiotaped as they described personal feelings and experiences as an HIV infected individual.

The interviews were analyzed using grounded theory methodologies. The core category which emerged from the data was Fighting to Survive with HIV Infection. Supporting concepts were Taking Care and Adjusting the Changes in One's Autobiography. Within the supporting concept of Taking Care were processes of Everyday Work and Illness Work which enabled the subjects to have some control over their lives and the disease and gave them hope. The processes involved in Adjusting to Changes in One's Autobiography were not knowing, accepting homosexuality, experiencing changing feelings, protecting confidentiality, dealing with the medical profession, dealing with multiple losses, and living with a terminal illness.

Two stages of responses were clear from the data. The first stage was in response to the diagnosis in which the subjects made decisions about whether to commit suicide, who to tell about their diagnosis, and changes that were needed in their lifestyles. The second stage was in response to continuing to live with HIV infection. In this stage, the subjects made decisions about how to fight to survive with the disease.

Implications from the study include the importance of nurses and other health professionals being aware of and supporting HIV infected individuals in their fight to survive with the disease. Further research is recommended on how HIV infected individuals make decisions about fighting to survive.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: B, page: 1743.

Thesis (D.S.N.)--UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, 1990.

School code: 0005.