Life begins at 60: Identifying the social support needs of African American women aging with HIV

Abstract

HIV chronicity has resulted in increased life expectancy for many African American women who acquired the disease during the epidemic’s peak years. As these women live longer and age, their social support needs may increase. Five focus groups were conducted in Washington, DC with 23 HIV-positive African American women aged 52–65 to explore women’s perceptions about how aging and HIV chronicity affects their social support needs. Participants were recruited from the longitudinal Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) participant pool. A constant comparison approach was applied during data analysis. Participants reported needing increased social support, especially emotional support from health care providers, family, and HIV-positive peers. The importance of providers and HIV-positive peers was discussed most frequently relative to meeting these needs. Health care providers in particular may need to increase their provision of emotional support when devising treatment plans to meet the social support needs of older HIV-positive African American women.

Social support for the elderly with HIV/Aids: an integrative review

“…All such biopsychosocial impacts means the elderly require social, family and professional support, as the discovery of the diagnosis can generate changes in several aspects of the life of these individuals. In relation to disclosing the news of a positive HIV diagnosis, many prefer to live in silence, for a variety of reasons: lack of a social support network or insufficiency thereof, fear of stigma, abuse based on stereotyped views of people living with HIV, loss of social support, breach of confidentiality and the desire not to burden family members with problems of health 24 . desire to talk about their HIV-related and general concerns about life with other people who would act empathetically and not be judged 14 .…”

“…These elderly women described the need to express their concerns, thoughts and experiences about aging with HIV and seek advice from doctors, therapists, family members and friends living with HIV/AIDS 14 . These types of support which are described as necessary for the elderly should be provided continuously as these people age with the disease, making them a facilitator in building selfempowerment and the self-management of HIV 14 .…”

Prevalência de alterações neurocognitivas associadas ao HIV em uma coorte aderente ao antirretroviral em um hospital geral na cidade de São Paulo

“…Os pacientes muitas vezes vivenciam o isolamento social e dificuldades no campo afetivo sexual, gerando prejuízos na manutenção e estruturação da sua rede de suporte social (39,47) .…”

“…Já o suporte instrumental se refere ao auxílio em tarefas domésticas ou em aspectos práticos do próprio tratamento, como acompanhar a pessoa em um atendimento, buscar os medicamentos na unidade de saúde, tomar conta dos filhos nos dias de consulta, dentre outras atividades (39,(47)(48)(49)(50) . (50) .…”

“…(50) . Em um recente estudo qualitativo com 23 mulheres afro-americanas, mais da metade das participantes relataram a necessidade de aumento do apoio social, especialmente o apoio da equipe de saúde, familiares e colegas soropositivos (47) . Já outro estudo brasileiro que avaliou a qualidade de vida de 625 participantes, mostrou que um adequado suporte social atua diretamente na redução de sintomas de ansiedade diante da possibilidade do paciente poder compartilhar o seu status de HIV com alguém (51) .…”