Agnes YLN, Songwathana P. Understanding stigma and coping strategies among HIV-negative Muslim wives in serodiscordant relationships in a Javanese community, Indonesia.
BELITUNG NURSING JOURNAL 2021;
7:409-417. [PMID:
37496502 PMCID:
PMC10367983 DOI:
10.33546/bnj.1600]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2021] [Revised: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
Although advanced treatment and accessibility of HIV/AIDS prevention and care have been increased, HIV-related stigma persists in the Indonesian community, especially among HIV-negative Muslim wives in a serodiscordant relationship. Therefore, understanding their coping strategies of the stigma is a necessity.
Objective
The study aimed to explore HIV-related stigma and coping strategies of HIV-negative Muslim wives in a serodiscordant relationship.
Methods
A qualitative study was conducted among seven HIV-negative Muslim wives in a serodiscordant relationship who experienced stigma. Data were collected by in-depth interview, and content analysis was used for data analysis.
Findings
Three themes emerged from the data. The first theme was the meaning of HIV/AIDS to Muslim wives, including perceiving HIV as a wanita nakal (immoral women) disease, perceiving HIV causes death, assuming herself as a carrier, and presuming HIV is less harmful than Diabetes Mellitus. The second theme was HIV-related stigma experiences, including being shunned by people, rejected by a midwife, and humiliated by a health worker. Finally, the third theme was coping strategies with the stigma, consisting of hiding the husband's HIV-positive status from the neighbors, disclosing HIV-positive status to a selective person, seeking support from the peer group, and strengthening the relationship among family members.
Conclusion
HIV/AIDS-related stigma affected people living with HIV/AIDS and their families, and it becomes a barrier to HIV/AIDS reduction programs in the marriage relationship. These findings will be beneficial to nurses and other health professionals to develop stigma reduction interventions related to HIV/AIDS.
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