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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Why Do People Disclose Their HIV Status? Qualitative Evidence from a Group of Activist Women in Khayelitsha |
Author: | Almeleh, Colin |
Year: | 2006 |
Periodical: | Social Dynamics |
Volume: | 32 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 136-169 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | AIDS social environment women Women's Issues Health and Nutrition Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Urbanization and Migration Cultural Roles Health, Nutrition, and Medicine urbanization |
External link: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02533950608628730 |
Abstract: | Avoiding stigmatizing attitudes (characterized by blame and gossip) in the community, while simultaneously accessing treatment, care and support, is the tricky path people living with HIV/AIDS have to negotiate. In this sense, the life experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS are bounded by their social context and their individual actions are a response to their environment. They both reinforce and challenge existing community stereotypes about HIV. This study explores the bio-psychosocial context of HIV/AIDS in which eleven HIV-positive activist women from Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa, negotiated the process of disclosing their HIV-positive status to significant others, specifically biological household members. The results suggest that the unique and changing biophysical nature of HIV/AIDS has a significant effect on the timing and motivation of people's decision to disclose their HIV-status and on the choice of recipients. The data suggest two key motivations for disclosure: to access health-related social support (individually focussed) and to educate others about the realities of HIV/AIDS (socially focussed). Additional motivations interplay with the primary motivations. These include maintaining control over treatment and care requirements; attempts to improve and maintain psychological well-being; sustaining and nurturing significant relationships; and countering prevailing misconceptions about the relationship between HIV/AIDS and health. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract] |