Enhancing the Perceived Health of HIV Seropositive Men

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between hope, social support, uncertainty in illness, and spirituality and their effect on the perceived health of HIV seropositive men. A prospective design was used to test a causal model on a sample of 125 HIV seropositive men recruited from urban HIV/AIDS outpatient clinics. A goodness of fit index of .90 and a comparative fit index of .79 indicated minimal fit of the theorized model with the data. Findings revealed significant, positive paths from hope to perceived health and from spirituality to hope. Significant negative paths were found between social support and uncertainty in illness and uncertainty in illness and hope. The level of hope may play an important role in enhancing health of HIV seropositive men.

Perceived social support, hope, and quality of life of persons living with HIV/AIDS: a case study from Nepal

“…This finding is collaborated by similar findings in which hope was found to be an important internal resource for the increased functioning of PLWHA [11,25]. The greatest impact of hope was on environmental functioning and the lowest was on global functioning.…”

“…Specific ways of being in relationships with others include dealing with one's family, renegotiating the friendship group, helping others with HIV and developing a relationship with a higher power, and in this case, social support act as the functional component of relationships, such as emotional and tangible assistance [5]. A study on HIV infected terminally ill persons indicates that there were significant differences in the level of hope according to diagnosis [26], and hope can help PLWHA to deal with the HIV diagnosis and acts as an internal resource for helping individuals living with HIV to experience increased well-being [25].…”

Cognitive Complaints in Adults Aging with HIV: A Pilot Study

“…Such factors can be modified for those aging with this disease. In particular, good health practices (Heinrich, 2003) and reducing depression (Honn & Bornstein, 2002) are recommended. In particular, adherence to HAART is not only important for immune function, it is important for cognitive maintenance.…”

Size, Composition, and Strength of Ties of Personal Social Support Networks Among Adult People Living with HIV/AIDS in Henan and Beijing, China

“…International research has found that social support can reduce feelings of social isolation, prevent mental illness, slow disease progression, promote treatment compliance, enhance coping strategies, and improve quality of life [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Only a few quantitative social support studies of PLWHA have been conducted in China, most using the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), which was developed by Xiao for non-PLWHA Chinese in 1986 [26,27].…”