Family caregivers of people with AIDS: negotiating partnerships with professional health care providers.

The purpose of this grounded theory study was twofold: (a) to examine AIDS family caregivers' interactions with professional health care providers, and (b) to evaluate the applicability of Swanson's middle-range theory of caring to characterize these interactions. The sample consisted of 12 family caregivers including gay partners, friends, and parents. Negotiating Partnership, defined as working out care with one another for the common good of the person with AIDS, was the basic social process explaining interactions between family caregivers and health care providers. Dimensions of negotiating partnership included conveying information, knowing, being accessible, and maintaining belief.