social context of disclosing hiv test results: hiv testing in tanzania

More documents

Recommendations

Info

conversation below between an 18-year-old female client and a counsellor demonstrates how some of those discussions aimed at ascertaining how exposure to HIV infection took place. Counsellor: Do you have a lover? Client: No. Counsellor: Have you never had one? Client: Yes. Counsellor: You mean you have never been involved in an intimate (sexual) relationship with a man? Client: I have, but that was a long time ago. Counsellor: Was this intimate/sexual relationship safe? Please explain? Client: Yes, it was safe. Counsellor: In what way was it safe? Please explain. Client: It was protected sex. We used condoms. 6.5 Respondents’ Experience with Post-Test Counselling All of the respondents in this study received counselling when they received their test results. They reported that they had been counselled on their worries and concerns, how to cope and live with HIV, and the possibilities of sharing their test results with others. The respondents numbered 35 women and 22 men. 6.5.1 Worries and Concerns To understand how people reacted after getting their test results, we asked our research subjects how they felt when the counsellors disclosed the positive test results to them. Nearly half of the interviews (N = 27) did not include any information about the response of individuals to the news that they were HIV positive. Three people said they felt “normal” or OK, and five people said the results were not true. The rest were quite unhappy, saying they felt bad, frightened, or shocked. When asked by the researcher why she felt normal after getting results that she had HIV, a 30-year-old female respondent said: I felt just normal. I had been sick for quite some time and from the signs/symptoms that were throughout my body, I knew that I must be infected with HIV already. 48
There is no doubt that such a person decided to take an HIV test only to confirm that her sickness was HIV/AIDS related. Another 25-year-old female respondent who became frightened after learning that she had been infected with HIV explained her ordeal as follows: First of all I did not believe when the counsellor told me that my results were positive. I became very fearful and so worried. I knew I was going to die soon. Most people have been saying that once infected, the chances for one to survive are small and that most people die early. As a result, I feared that I was going to die soon. The above experience is also shared by a 40-year-old female respondent: I really felt shocked and very disturbed when the counsellor disclosed the HIV-positive results to me. I thought about my family. I thought seriously that taking into consideration that my husband died a while ago, and now I am HIV positive, who will take care of my family/children when I die. Whom do I leave my family with? For those who showed their sense of denial, their feelings are represented by a 37year-old man in the following way: When I learned that I was HIV positive, I simply did not believe what the counsellor was telling me. I thought my relatives might have bewitched me. It is not easy for me to get this infection. This cannot be true. 6.5.2 Implication of Test Results and Future Health A 38-year-old married man living with AIDS had this to say as far as the question of future health is concerned: The counsellor advised me to live with great care. I was told to abstain or avoid unsafe sex. When abstinence is not possible, I was advised to use condoms. I was told that since I was infected with HIV, now I had to abandon certain activities, and follow A, B, C regime. I then asked my counsellor what A, B, C meant? I was told A meant total abstinence from sex, to which I responded that I was already abstaining. B stood for being faithful (sticking to one sexual partner), which means avoiding multiple partners, and C meant if I could not manage to handle the first two then I was supposed to apply the C which meant using condoms. The counsellor also advised me to eat good nutritious food. He suggested that for my health condition I was supposed to have six meals a day. 49
Page 1:
SOCIAL CONTEXT OF DISCLOSING HIV TE
Page 4 and 5:
Cover photo: Iringa bus station (Jo
Page 6 and 7:
5.4 Benefits of VCT ...............
Page 9:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many institutions
Page 13 and 14:
Study Objectives EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Page 15 and 16: HIV Counselling The respondents wer
Page 17: discrimination than are women. In a
Page 20 and 21: 1.2 Statement of the Problem It is
Page 22 and 23: 1.5 Significance of the Study The s
Page 24 and 25: Major Lakes HIV prevalance (THIS 20
Page 26 and 27: Stigma tends to affect men and wome
Page 28 and 29: The other challenge that VCT facili
Page 30 and 31: to their sexual partner or did not
Page 32 and 33: Disclosure to significant others ca
Page 34 and 35: and that encouraging disclosure onl
Page 37 and 38: 4. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS OF DATA
Page 39 and 40: testing to side-step the stigma ass
Page 41 and 42: (b) Alamano Health Centre Alamano H
Page 43 and 44: Twenty-five of the respondents (44
Page 45 and 46: 4.6.1 Conversation Guide for Respon
Page 47: showing such information in confide
Page 50 and 51: 5.2 Conditions under Which People S
Page 52 and 53: Researcher: Where did you take your
Page 54 and 55: 5.2.2 Respondents’ Other Reasons
Page 56 and 57: She, however, went to get tested as
Page 58 and 59: 5.3 Social Relations and HIV Testin
Page 61 and 62: 6.1 Introduction 6. COUNSELLING AND
Page 63 and 64: Many clients come to us with many r
Page 65: usually insisted on getting the tes
Page 69 and 70: some respondents told us that those
Page 71 and 72: To understand the effects of ARVs o
Page 73 and 74: 7.1 Introduction 7. DISCLOSURE AND
Page 75 and 76: Respondent: People differ. Research
Page 77 and 78: Researcher: Do you have other reaso
Page 79 and 80: …eeh since I became sick, I had t
Page 81 and 82: Female respondents were often afrai
Page 83 and 84: lose the job as well as be chased a
Page 85 and 86: 7.6 Disclosure and HIV Prevention R
Page 87: however, that disclosure is limited
Page 90 and 91: 8.2 Respondents’ Views of Counsel
Page 92 and 93: Patients now wait for equipment or
Page 95 and 96: REFERENCES AMREF. 2008. Angaza HIV
Page 97 and 98: Klitzman, R.L., S.B. Kirshenbaum, B
Page 99: Skogmar, S., D. Shakely, M. Lans, J
Page 102 and 103: Questions: What kind of work do you
Page 104 and 105: Questions: What thoughts have you h
show all

social context of disclosing hiv test results: hiv testing in tanzania

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?