Families living with HIV

Abstract

Given the historical emergence of the AIDS epidemic first among gay men in the developed world, HIV interventions have primarily focused on individuals rather than families. Typically not part of traditional family structures, HIV-positive gay men in Europe and the US lived primarily in societies providing essential infrastructure for survival needs that highly value individual justice and freedom. Interventions were thus designed to focus on at-risk individuals with programmes that were age and gender segregated. As the epidemic has unfolded, the early focus on individuals has become inadequate: families live with HIV, not just individuals. Families' structure, economy, migration patterns, and developmental life cycles are affected by HIV, and these changes radiate throughout the community creating parallel stresses. Family-based, intergenerational models of detection, prevention and treatment services offer enhanced opportunities for effective interventions and suggest very different intervention settings and strategies. However, these models also require addressing the family's basic needs for survival and security in order to be successfully implemented and sustained over time. As HIV was an opportunity for marginalized persons in the developed world to 'turn their life around', the strengths of families in the developing world may be mobilized to contribute to the community's long-term health, survival and security needs.

Behavior Change and Health-Related Interventions for Heterosexual Risk Reduction Among Drug Users

“…Although the definition and structure of a family (e.g., nuclear, extended) varies between countries and across cultures, the power of a family can be harnessed in HIV prevention and control, assuming cultural concerns about privacy of persons and confidentiality of data are addressed appropriately. Several investigators have pointed to the importance of families in substance use addiction or called for interventions that build on the strengths of the families and mobilize them to contribute to the community's long-term health, survival, and security needs (Aronowitz et al, 2005;Fullilove et al, 2000;McArdle et al, 2002;Paruk et al, 2005;Rotheram-Borus et al, 2005).…”

Children's body mass index and nutrition intake in HIV/AIDS

“…Parents living with HIV must cope not only with their own physical health symptoms, complex medication regimens (Gwadz et al, 1999), stigma (Herek & Capitanio, 1993) and fear of AIDS-related death, but must also care for their family (Armistead & Forehand, 1995;Rotheram-Borus, Murphy, Miller, & Draimin, 1997). Previous studies have demonstrated that many children affected by HIV/AIDS were not able to have a normal childhood (Bor, Miller, & Goldman, 1993;Pequegnat et al, 2001;Rotheram-Borus, Flannery, Rice, & Lester, 2005;Rotheram-Borus, Lee, Gwadz, & Draimin, 2001;Schuster, et al, 2000;Wekesa, 2000). Studies have shown that chronically ill parents were not able to provide proper care for their children.…”

Family Systems and HIV/AIDS in South Africa

“…Studies have shown that it is the family, rather than the individual, that is affected by HIV and AIDS in profound and tragic ways [4]. The devastation of this disease has prompted researchers to re-examine traditional definitions of the family systems and to take into account the diverse social networks affected by this disease [5].…”