Disclosure, social support and stigma in a sample of men and women living with HIV / AIDS in Khayelitsha

Abstract

This study investigated disclosure, support and stigma among a sample of men and women living with HIV/AIDS in Khayelitsha. This study aimed to; investigate participants' experiences of HIV/AIDS social and self-stigma descriptively, investigate participants' experiences of social support descriptively, investigate participants' experiences of HIV I AIDS descriptively, examine whether there is a relationship between self-stigma and social support and explore whether there is a relationship between disclosure and HIV I AIDS stigma. The Social Identity Theory was used to explain stigma in the context of HIV I AIDS. A quantitative research approach was also used to conduct this study, applying random sampling to gather 100 HIV -positive participants living and attending support groups in Khayelitsha, between the ages of 18 and 65. Of these participants, 13% were male and 87% female. The Capacity Building for HIV/AIDS research in South Africa questionnaire developed by researchers from the Human Sciences Research Council, Penn-State University, the University of the Western Cape and the University of Limpopo was used to gather data for this study. The study tested these hypotheses; PL WHIV's experience high levels of social and self- stigma, PL WHIV's experience low levels of social support, PL WHIV's are less likely to disclose their HIV positive status to others, there is a significant positive relationship between self-stigma and social support, there is a significant positive relationship between disclosure and HIV IAIDS stigma. The correlation coefficient (r) analysis and descriptive analyses were used in SPSS to analyze data. Results indicated that participants in this study were still experiencing stigma, received social support, more especially from mothers and sisters and disclosed their HIV -positive status less to colleagues and extended family members. Non-significant relationships were found between self-stigma and social support and also between disclosure and HIV I AIDS stigma. Future recommendations are made regarding future research in the area of HIV I AIDS stigma.