The University of Tennessee, College of Nursing, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-4180, USA.
Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2011;32(6):374-81. doi: 10.3109/01612840.2011.568273.
The South has more AIDS cases than any other region of the US, with most new diagnoses among African American women (56%). In a previous study, a peer counseling intervention for rural women with HIV/AIDS was developed and tested. The purpose of this analysis was to describe, from the peer counselors' perspective, the predominant concerns of the women, contextualized by living in isolated, impoverished circumstances in the rural Deep South. Following home visits, peer counselors recorded a description of the encounter. A multidisciplinary qualitative research group extracted, coded, and thematized the chief concerns and context of the women's lives. Findings provide a vivid portrait of HIV-infected women experiencing deeply troubling psychological and physiological symptoms of HIV/AIDS against the contextual ground of poverty and isolation. Themes include: (1) struggle/effort; (2) stigma/hiding; (3) loss/depression; and (4) independence/ dependence. These women lived in extremely difficult life circumstances that reflected not only a devastating chronic illness, but a life of poverty and abuse. Appropriate care for HIV-infected women living in the rural Deep South will need to address the whole context of their lives.
美国南部的艾滋病病例比其他任何地区都多，大多数新诊断病例出现在非裔美国女性中（56%）。在之前的一项研究中，为感染艾滋病毒/艾滋病的农村妇女开发并测试了同伴咨询干预措施。本分析的目的是从同伴顾问的角度描述生活在农村深南部孤立贫困环境中的妇女的主要关注点，并将其置于背景环境中。家访后，同伴顾问记录了一次会面的描述。一个多学科定性研究小组提取、编码并对妇女生活的主要关注点和背景进行了主题化。研究结果生动地描绘了感染艾滋病毒的妇女在贫困和孤立的背景下经历着艾滋病毒/艾滋病带来的令人深感困扰的心理和生理症状。主题包括：（1）挣扎/努力；（2）耻辱/隐瞒；（3）失落/抑郁；（4）独立/依赖。这些妇女生活在极其困难的生活环境中，不仅反映了一种毁灭性的慢性疾病，还反映了贫困和虐待的生活。为生活在农村深南部的感染艾滋病毒的妇女提供适当的护理将需要解决她们生活的整个背景。
