Going Home: African-American Caregiving for Adult Children with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Disease

Abstract

The caregiving literature has focused on European-American caregivers who are providing care to spouses or parents with Alzheimer's disease. The article reports ethnographic research exploring aspects of caregiving by rural African-American mothers for adult children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Eight African-American mothers were interviewed to elicit cultural domains of caregiving. Two major domains were a personal relationship with God and God's will. Taken together, these domains framed the context in which African-American mothers understood HIV disease, provided care, and resolved the death of their adult child.

‘It's my inner strength’: spirituality, religion and HIV in the lives of young African American men who have sex with men

“…In addition, spirituality has been shown to be an important factor for maintaining psychological well-being among black Americans who have HIV (Boyle et al 1997; Hudson and Morris 1994). Coleman and Holzemer (1999) found existential well-being (a spiritual indicator of meaning and purpose) to be more important for psychological health than religiosity.…”

Spirituality and sexual orientation: relationship to mental well‐being and functional health status

“…Investigators examining how significant a role spirituality plays in the African‐American community found compelling evidence suggesting that it significantly correlated to physical and mental health (King & Bushwick 1994, Boyle et al. 1997, Sowell et al.…”

Sustaining the Relationship: Women's Caregiving in the Context of Hiv Disease

“…Spirituality of women dealing with HIV, and their religious interpretation of the place of the disease in their lives, was described eloquently by qualitative researchers (Boyle, Ferrell, Hodnicki, & Muller, 1997;Dunbar, Mueller, Medina, & Wolf, 1998). These accounts re ect my own experiences of the strength and power of women giving care to PLWH.…”

“…In many cases adult children, after many years of independent living, had to come home to be cared for by their mothers (Boyle et al, 1997;McGinn, 1996;Peabody, 1986). Such changes in role and relationship called for creative negotiation of space.…”

“…As is so often the case with caregiving, the tasks of caring for the men, women, and children with AIDS have been taken on in many cases by the women in their lives: their mothers, sisters, aunts, and other family members. The phenomenon of grandmothers as caregivers to PLWH has been noted in the literature (Boyle, Ferrell, Hodnicki, & Muller, 1997;Caliandro & Hughes, 1998;Joslin, & Brouard, 1995;Turner & Catania, 1997), raising the concern of nurses and other providers that elderly persons are a particularly vulnerable group for health consequences of caregiving (Brabant, 1994). As medical breakthroughs have prolonged the lives of the infected persons, the complicated regimens of the treatments and the physical effects of both treatment and disease continue to require the support and caregiving of family members.…”