Disclosure of Hiv status to sexual partners among people who ...
Disclosure of Hiv status to sexual partners among people who ... Disclosure of Hiv status to sexual partners among people who ...
• TASO clients on ART , 18 years of age (In Uganda this is an adult) and older with a current sexual partner • Have or have not disclosed to the sexual partner • Have received counselling for more than 1 year • Were on appointment to come for services during the scheduled time for interviews • Willingness to participate in the interview The criteria for selection of participants for the FGD : • Clients’ representatives who are peer educators (expert clients) and are open about their serostatus • Are on ART • Have a current sexual partner • Willing to participate in the group discussion The clients are usually given appointments ahead of time by the Counselling coordinator to come on ART clinic days either at the facility or at the outreaches in the community. The Counselling coordinator with the help of the counselling team identified those who have/have not disclosed their HIV status to the sexual partners for the in-depth interviews following the criteria provided. Effort to identify those who speak English only was made, but this category seemed to be limited, thus some interviews were conducted in Luganda, the local dialect. In-depth interviews were conducted on 24 th February, 10 th , 11 th , 16th, 17 th March and 7 th April. 2009. The study involved 22 purposively selected participants who are clients of TASO Mulago on ART, 11 male and 11 female participants. 14 in-depth interviews were conducted while 8 purposively selected expert clients (peer educators) and are open about their serostatus were in a focus group discussion. The in-depth interviews were conducted to gain understanding about participants’ personal experiences about disclosure/non-disclosure while the FGD not only brought out 29
the personal experiences but also general perspective on disclosure to sexual partners inorder to complement the information from the in-depth interviews. In this study the sample size was limited because of time and money and the participants selected were because of their knowledge regarding the issue of disclosure to partners as ‘information-rich’ more than looking at the numbers to be interviewed. The selection of the participants in the FGD was as per the criteria mentioned above. The mixed group was not focusing on gender related issues but on the disclosure of serostatus to sexual partners . The participants in the group were all expert clients/peer educators that are open about their serostatus and move together to educate individuals and the communities about HIV/AIDS prevention and care. The counselling coordinator also with the chairman of the clients’ council representatives mobilised participants in the FGD to come to TASO centre. They mobilised those married or cohabiting, either discordant or polygamous relationship and were willing to come for the interviews. There were four male and four female participants. The focus group discussion was conducted on 13 th March 2009. Participants in the individual in- depth interviews and FGD, represented age groups in their twenties, thirties, forties and fifties. . 3.4 Data Collection 3.4.1 Individual interviews Information was collected through semi-structured interviews. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with each participant as described above. All participants interviewed were given an appointment date on ART clinic days in order to cut down on extra costs of transport fare. The participants were given transport refund and some refreshments. The interview started with the researcher welcoming the participant and a brief introduction, followed by explanation of the purpose of the study, participant’s voluntary involvement and withdrawal, issues of confidentiality, benefits and costs as articulated in the Participant’s information sheet (Appendix 1) and the partipants sighned the Consent form (Appendix 2) after commiting themselves to be interviewed. Using the interview guides for clients who have disclosed/have not disclosed (Appendix 3 & 4) the researcher 30
- Page 1 and 2: DISCLOSURE OF HIV STATUS TO SEXUAL
- Page 3 and 4: ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AIDS - A
- Page 5 and 6: While strategies like HBHCT and cou
- Page 7 and 8: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to t
- Page 9 and 10: 4.5.2 Fear of abandonment .........
- Page 11 and 12: partners, behavioural dis-inhibitio
- Page 13 and 14: engage in preventive behaviours as
- Page 15 and 16: opportunistic infections and ART, i
- Page 17 and 18: Mulago centre had registered 270 di
- Page 19 and 20: 1.6 Problem Statement With the evid
- Page 21 and 22: 2.2 Benefits of HIV Status Disclosu
- Page 23 and 24: approaches including suggesting tha
- Page 25 and 26: that people selectively disclose in
- Page 27 and 28: Length of time after testing Women
- Page 29 and 30: clients who are on antiretroviral t
- Page 31 and 32: Stigma and discrimination The stigm
- Page 33 and 34: 2001) had fear of the partners’re
- Page 35 and 36: gender based violence as well as du
- Page 37: & Ezzy, 2005). This was relevant fo
- Page 41 and 42: participants was raised to the grou
- Page 43 and 44: methods besides the data recorded,
- Page 45 and 46: CHAPTER 4: RESULTS 4.1 Description
- Page 47 and 48: The other common reason for taking
- Page 49 and 50: Although most of the participants w
- Page 51 and 52: 4.3.2 Timing of disclosure Disclosu
- Page 53 and 54: I thought he would probably blame m
- Page 55 and 56: 4.4.1. Desire for partner to get tr
- Page 57 and 58: In the FGD a female participant who
- Page 59 and 60: Some men particularly are afraid to
- Page 61 and 62: Some male participants commented th
- Page 63 and 64: so that she too could come and they
- Page 65 and 66: [Female, 36 years, has a steady par
- Page 67 and 68: [Female, 42 years, married] Even th
- Page 69 and 70: consequences of disclosure among se
- Page 71 and 72: esults (Maman et al., 2003; Kassaye
- Page 73 and 74: fear of stigma and discrimination.
- Page 75 and 76: them and emulate the good examples.
- Page 77 and 78: • Couples should be encouraged to
- Page 79 and 80: Brou, H., Djohan, G., Becquet, R. A
- Page 81 and 82: Greene, K., Derlega, V. J., Yep, G.
- Page 83 and 84: Kitzinger, J. (1994). The Methodolo
- Page 85 and 86: Mugenyi, K., Kabasinguzi, R., & Ali
- Page 87 and 88: Prevention with Positives Committee
• TASO clients on ART , 18 years <strong>of</strong> age (In Uganda this is an adult) and older with<br />
a current <strong>sexual</strong> partner<br />
• Have or have not disclosed <strong>to</strong> the <strong>sexual</strong> partner<br />
• Have received counselling for more than 1 year<br />
• Were on appointment <strong>to</strong> come for services during the scheduled time for<br />
interviews<br />
• Willingness <strong>to</strong> participate in the interview<br />
The criteria for selection <strong>of</strong> participants for the FGD :<br />
• Clients’ representatives <strong>who</strong> are peer educa<strong>to</strong>rs (expert clients) and are open<br />
about their sero<strong>status</strong><br />
• Are on ART<br />
• Have a current <strong>sexual</strong> partner<br />
• Willing <strong>to</strong> participate in the group discussion<br />
The clients are usually given appointments ahead <strong>of</strong> time by the Counselling coordina<strong>to</strong>r<br />
<strong>to</strong> come on ART clinic days either at the facility or at the outreaches in the community.<br />
The Counselling coordina<strong>to</strong>r with the help <strong>of</strong> the counselling team identified those <strong>who</strong><br />
have/have not disclosed their HIV <strong>status</strong> <strong>to</strong> the <strong>sexual</strong> <strong>partners</strong> for the in-depth<br />
interviews following the criteria provided.<br />
Effort <strong>to</strong> identify those <strong>who</strong> speak English only was made, but this category seemed <strong>to</strong> be<br />
limited, thus some interviews were conducted in Luganda, the local dialect.<br />
In-depth interviews were conducted on 24 th February, 10 th , 11 th , 16th, 17 th March and 7 th<br />
April. 2009.<br />
The study involved 22 purposively selected participants <strong>who</strong> are clients <strong>of</strong> TASO Mulago<br />
on ART, 11 male and 11 female participants. 14 in-depth interviews were conducted<br />
while 8 purposively selected expert clients (peer educa<strong>to</strong>rs) and are open about their<br />
sero<strong>status</strong> were in a focus group discussion.<br />
The in-depth interviews were conducted <strong>to</strong> gain understanding about participants’<br />
personal experiences about disclosure/non-disclosure while the FGD not only brought out<br />
29