Self-Care Behaviors of African American Women Living With HIV: A Qualitative Perspective

Abstract

Significant numbers of African American (AA) women have been diagnosed with HIV over the past decade. HIV may be viewed as a chronic condition that can be actively managed through the use of self-care behaviors, yet little is known about how these women define self-care (SC) for themselves, and still less is known about what facilitates and hinders SC behaviors among these women. This article highlights the results of a qualitative research study undertaken with AA women living with HIV in a metropolitan city in the southeastern United States. The objective of this study was to systematically collect data about the SC experiences of these women. Focus group methodology was used. Content analysis of the data was conducted. Two primary domains emerged: do what the doctor says and living healthy. SC activities included seeking social support, managing disclosure, engaging in pampering, taking part in religious customs, and maintaining recovery.

Taking It One Day at a Time: African American Women Aging with HIV and Co-Morbidities

“…15 Several recent studies have been conducted that examine the self-management behaviors of women living with HIV. [15][16][17] Overall, these studies indicate that it is important to examine the barriers and facilitators to illness self-management of women due to the unique experience that various intersecting factors including gender, social roles, poverty, race, and HIV stigma have on women's abilities to effectively manage their health. For example, Tufts, Wessell, and Kearney discern that race and gender are important social factors to consider when examining the HIV self-management behaviors of HIV positive women.…”

“…For example, Tufts, Wessell, and Kearney discern that race and gender are important social factors to consider when examining the HIV self-management behaviors of HIV positive women. 17 They conducted five focus groups with HIV-positive African American women ages 18-65. Findings reveal that African American women often place others in front of themselves when it comes to managing their own health.…”

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“…It is, therefore, hardly surprising that African American women might not present readily for HIV care or take ART; they may anticipate that such services will impact confidentiality within their communities, resulting in a loss of social support from other women. As emphasized earlier, loss of social support due to stigma also compromises health outcomes as a result of enhanced risk for non-adherence to ART [58] and less than optimal self-management [16]. Accordingly, preserving confidentiality and neutralizing potentially stigmatizing interactions are foundational to HIV care and treatment services and when designing programmatic and investigational interventions.…”

“…This framework acknowledges the African American woman's gender, race, class and disease conditions are not mutually exclusive. Instead, these attributes may be a collective catalyst for stigma-related experiences that are not generated by positive HIV serostatus alone; augmenting each other and contributing to stigmatizing health care encounters that further marginalize African American women living with HIV [6,16].…”

“…Whatever the source, stigma affects disclosure patterns, health outcomes, and quality of life for those living with HIV [43,[60][61][62]. Social support has been identified as a facilitator of self-management of HIV and significantly associated with positive coping for women living with HIV [16,63]. African American women who encounter and/or anticipate stigma related to HIV, may infer that engaging in HIV self-management might disclose their serostatus directly or indirectly-thus, jeopardizing their actual or potential social support networks.…”