Stigma, Culture, and HIV and AIDS in the Western Cape, South Africa: An Application of the PEN-3 Cultural Model for Community-Based Research

Airhihenbuwa, Collins O.; Okoror, Titilayo A.; Shefer, Tammy; Brown, Darigg Collis; Iwelunmor, Juliet; Smith, Ed; Adam, Mohamed Hussein; Simbayi, Leickness C.; Zungu, Nompumelelo; Dlakulu, Regina; Shisana, Olive

doi:10.1177/0095798408329941

Cited by 79 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…First, my finding of a Tanzanian cultural context of HIV stigma and discrimination is consistent with findings of a high prevalence of HIV stigma and discrimination in African communities (e.g., Petros et al, 2006;Airhihenbuwa et al, 2009;Okoror et al, 2014). For example, drawing on a focus group study of women living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa to explore the experience of stigma in healthcare settings, Okoror et al (2014) found stigmatizing practices such as specific file colors being used for HIV-positive patients and sections of the healthcare setting reserved only for PLWHA.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

An Institutional Field of People Living with HIV/AIDS Organizations in Tanzania: Agency, Culture, Dialogue, and Structure

Olufowote

2017

Front. Commun.

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Communication research on public health organizations and people living with HIV/ AIDS (PLWHA) have paid insufficient attention to PLWHA organizations. These organizations, constituted and operated by PLWHA, advocate on behalf of PLWHA with more powerful institutions in society and serve as sources of empowerment and support. I drew on the culture-centered approach to health communication and institutional perspectives on health organizations to explore PLWHA organizations in Tanzania, namely, their cultural and structural contexts, agency, and dialogue. Tanzania has 1.5 million PLWHA and a 5.3% adult prevalence rate that ranks it as 12th highest in the world. Through interviews with leaders of 10 PLWHA organizations, I found a cultural context of HIV stigma and discrimination, a structural context consisting of corruption and bureaucratic politics in governing bodies as well as lack of access to resources, agency to impact PLWHA and members of society in a variety of ways, and processes of dialogue within advocacy networks of PLWHA organizations and in network collaborations with the government. I conclude with implications for improving the organizations' interactions with their structural context and for developing the contribution from the culture-centered approach to health communication on structures as health organizations and systems.Keywords: culture-centered approach, hiV/aiDs, institutional perspectives on health organizations, people living with hiV/aiDs organizations, sub-saharan africa People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) organizations are understudied in communication research. PLWHA organizations are non-profit organizations (NPOs) constituted and operated primarily by volunteers who are PLWHA. These organizations emerge out of dissatisfaction with responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic by more powerful societal actors (e.g., government); they pursue the interests of PLWHA by advocating on behalf of PLWHA in their communities and societies (Maguire et al., 2001). It is important to focus on PLWHA organizations because PLWHA in the Global South face continuing problems such as stigma and discrimination (Okoror et al., 2014). Moreover, these organizations have implications for the empowerment, support, and wellbeing of PLWHA.Although one body of communication research on health organizations has recognized a variety of public health organizations (e.g

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

An Institutional Field of People Living with HIV/AIDS Organizations in Tanzania: Agency, Culture, Dialogue, and Structure

Olufowote

2017

Front. Commun.

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“…This study is part of an NIH-funded, capacity-building HIV and AIDS stigma project in South Africa for disadvantaged, underserved Black post-graduate students at the University of the Western Cape and the University of Limpopo. 1 Focus group discussions included home-based caregivers in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The ethics committee of The Pennsylvania State University and Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa reviewed and approved this study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home-Based Caregiving for People Living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Mieh¹,

Iwelunmor²,

Airhihenbuwa³

2013

hpu

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Caregiving for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) reportedly affects the physical, mental, and socioeconomic well-being of family and volunteer caregivers. This study uses the PEN-3 cultural model to examine the positive, existential (unique), or negative roles and expectations that influence HIV and AIDS caregiving among home-based caregivers (HBCs) in Limpopo, South Africa. Data from 41 women who participated in four focus group discussions held in Limpopo provides a deeper understanding of culture in providing care and support to PLWHAs. Using the cultural empowerment domain of PEN-3, our analyses revealed the following themes: perceptions associated with HIV/AIDS caregiving, HBCs assuming the roles of family, and voicelessness of HBCs due to the lack of support. The findings highlight the resilience of HBCs in South Africa in responding to the stigmatized disease of HIV/AIDS in the context of cultural expectation of caring for the sick.

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“…The project's goal was to examine contextual factors that may contribute to HIV-and AIDS-related stigma in the community in general, and in the family and health care settings in particular. Focus groups were conducted with key informants to explore HIV and AIDS stigma (Airhihenbuwa et al, 2009;Iwelunmor et al, 2010). Focus groups are ideal in this setting as they facilitate open discussions in ways that allow participants to express their views, including the opportunity to elaborate on comments made by members (Iwelunmor et al, 2010).…”

Section: Study Area and Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociocultural Factors Influencing HIV Disclosure Among Men in South Africa

2014

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In South Africa, more than 2 million people living with HIV are men aged 15 years and older, and heterosexual intercourse remains the predominant mode of HIV transmission. Knowledge of the sociocultural factors that influence men's decisions about whether, when, or how to disclose seropositive status remains incompletely understood. Using the PEN-3 cultural model as a guide, this study explored the sociocultural factors influencing HIV disclosure among men in South Africa. Four focus group discussions with 27 participants were used to determine the perceptions, enabling and nurturing factors that influence how men chose to reveal or conceal knowledge of their seropositive status. The results revealed that notions of male identity in the South African context, family, and community factors contribute to disclosure and nondisclosure of seropositive status among men living with HIV/AIDS. Future interventions should work to address these factors, as they are necessary with supporting disclosure among men living with HIV.

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Stigma, Culture, and HIV and AIDS in the Western Cape, South Africa: An Application of the PEN-3 Cultural Model for Community-Based Research

Cited by 79 publications

References 37 publications

An Institutional Field of People Living with HIV/AIDS Organizations in Tanzania: Agency, Culture, Dialogue, and Structure

An Institutional Field of People Living with HIV/AIDS Organizations in Tanzania: Agency, Culture, Dialogue, and Structure

Home-Based Caregiving for People Living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Sociocultural Factors Influencing HIV Disclosure Among Men in South Africa

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