TY - JOUR
T1 - Disclosure and Impact of Maternal HIV+ Serostatus on Mothers and Children in Rural Haiti
AU - Conserve, Donaldson F.
AU - Eustache, Eddy
AU - Oswald, Catherine M.
AU - Louis, Ermaze
AU - King, Gary
AU - Scanlan, Fiona
AU - Mukherjee, Joia S.
AU - Surkan, Pamela J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank all of the youth and mothers/caregivers who participated in the study and the staff at Partners In Health, Zanmi Lasante, and Harvard Medical School who contributed significantly to this study. Special thanks are extended to Marianne Appolon, Navdya Clerveaux, Evens Coqmar, Nancy Dorsinville, Wilder Dubuisson, Naomie Emmanuel, Oupet Evenson, Jinette Fetiere, John Guillaume, Thierry Jean-Paul, Wesler Lambert, Joly Laramie, Fernet Leandre, Lucinda Leung, Michelle Li, Patrice Nevil, Ernst Origene, Sherley Piard, Jean Renald Pierre, Marie Lourdes Pierre, Rivot St. Fleur. We are grateful for Dr. Arachu Castro for the life history interview guides used to collect the data in this study and the long-term encouragement and support from Loune Viaud and Dr. Paul Farmer. This study was supported by a grant provided by the National Institute of Mental Health (R21 MH076447) and a training grant from the Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Program of National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities # 5 T 37 TW00113-08. The HIV treatment program has been funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM). The work at Zanmi Lasante has been made possible in large part through the generosity of private foundations and donors, especially Thomas J. White.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2013, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2014/11/5
Y1 - 2014/11/5
N2 - Mothers living with HIV (MLWHs) in the United States have reported that one of their main challenges is the decision to disclose their HIV serostatus to their children and the potential consequences of their disclosure. Little is known about the experiences of MLWHs regarding disclosing their HIV serostatus to their children and the impact of maternal HIV serostatus disclosure in the island nations of the Caribbean. Study objectives were to identify the factors influencing maternal HIV serostatus disclosure, examine the breadth of maternal HIV serostatus, and understand the impact of disclosure on mothers and the children. Baseline interviews were conducted between 2006 and 2007 with 25 HIV-positive mothers and 26 children ages 10–17 participating in a pilot psychosocial support intervention for HIV-affected youth and their caregivers in Haiti. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded for topical themes by two investigators. Analysis of the interviews yielded several themes relevant to reasons for disclosure, including children’s experience of HIV stigma in the community, social support and encouragement from psychosocial intervention workers. The main themes related to breadth of disclosure were brief disclosure and explicit disclosure with some mothers sharing information about how they learned about their illness diagnosis and their medication. Themes related to impacts of disclosure included emotional reactions of children and mothers, and children’s desire to assist mothers with illness and become involved. These findings suggest the need to provide more psychosocial support to HIV-affected families in the Caribbean region.
AB - Mothers living with HIV (MLWHs) in the United States have reported that one of their main challenges is the decision to disclose their HIV serostatus to their children and the potential consequences of their disclosure. Little is known about the experiences of MLWHs regarding disclosing their HIV serostatus to their children and the impact of maternal HIV serostatus disclosure in the island nations of the Caribbean. Study objectives were to identify the factors influencing maternal HIV serostatus disclosure, examine the breadth of maternal HIV serostatus, and understand the impact of disclosure on mothers and the children. Baseline interviews were conducted between 2006 and 2007 with 25 HIV-positive mothers and 26 children ages 10–17 participating in a pilot psychosocial support intervention for HIV-affected youth and their caregivers in Haiti. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded for topical themes by two investigators. Analysis of the interviews yielded several themes relevant to reasons for disclosure, including children’s experience of HIV stigma in the community, social support and encouragement from psychosocial intervention workers. The main themes related to breadth of disclosure were brief disclosure and explicit disclosure with some mothers sharing information about how they learned about their illness diagnosis and their medication. Themes related to impacts of disclosure included emotional reactions of children and mothers, and children’s desire to assist mothers with illness and become involved. These findings suggest the need to provide more psychosocial support to HIV-affected families in the Caribbean region.
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U2 - 10.1007/s10995-013-1375-x
DO - 10.1007/s10995-013-1375-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 24158504
AN - SCOPUS:84912044135
VL - 18
SP - 2309
EP - 2315
JO - Maternal and Child Health Journal
JF - Maternal and Child Health Journal
SN - 1092-7875
IS - 10
ER -