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Based on a qualitative study of lived experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS in China, this article explores the role of time -- in particular , time as lived (or , perceptual time) -- in these individuals' construction and reconstruction of the meanings of their illness experiences. Although their HIV infection interrupted the linear low of time, the end of which is death, they had reconstructed the meanings of time according to their priorities in the process of living with this disease. Making sense of time beyond a linear time framework benefited these individuals by enabling them to restore their control over their lives and transform a process of deteriorating and dying into a process of living and growing. It is concluded that time, as a distinct form of illness experience, merits further examination in future AIDS research as well as in health research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rapid increase of HIV infection cases in China, the majority of this population have not yet accessed AIDS-related healthcare services. Most current research in China focuses on HIV prevention and disease control, and pays inadequate attention to the barriers facing HIV-infected individuals in accessing and adhering with healthcare services. This article, as part of a research project on the illness experiences of people with HIV/AIDS in China, aimed to explore these individuals’ healthcare experiences, shedding light on the gaps between their needs and existing healthcare services. Data for this qualitative study were collected through individual in-depth interviews with 21 HIV-infected adults in China. The results of data analysis suggest that these individuals’ healthcare experiences were greatly affected by social discrimination and the limitations of healthcare resources. While AIDS stigma has reduced the social resources available for this population, HIV-related health institutions were perceived by them as an indispensable source of social support. It is concluded that healthcare institutions, as one of the few places in which HIV-infected people are willing to disclose their HIV positive status, should incorporate social care into healthcare service development and delivery so as to facilitate this population's accessing healthcare services and to address their unmet needs that go beyond the conventional scope of health care. Improving the visibility of people with HIV/AIDS in health care will also have a long-term impact on their own well-being and on HIV prevention in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women in China are increasingly affected by HIV/AIDS. Current AIDS studies have examined the HIV risks faced by this gender group, paying inadequate attention to women's actual experiences with the disease. This oversight has inhibited our ability to understand the impact of gender on women's capacity to respond to HIV/AIDS in their postinfection lives. Based on a qualitative study on illness experiences of HIV-infected people, this article examines the interactions between HIV/AIDS and gender roles in the Chinese context. It was found that traditional gender norms have played a key role for HIV-infected women in their efforts to tackle this disease and to make sense of their daily lives. HIV infection has created a conflict between women's intention to fulfill their conception of "womanhood" and a decreased ability to do so, which, in turn, has adversely affected their self-perceptions and well-being. To avoid worsening the inequality women experience, therefore, we must also work on the socioeconomic conditions, for example, through delivering comprehensive care to affected families and developing a gender-sensitive welfare policy, so that the gender imparity that permeates this epidemic can be challenged and transformed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recent AIDS research has documented the widespread discrimination toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in China. General ignorance and misconceptions about this disease have been identified as the two primary reasons for this prejudice. Yet, little attention has been paid to social constructions of HIV/AIDS in the Chinese context and to the processes by which such constructions are experienced, understood, reacted to, and, perhaps, reconstructed through social and interpersonal interactions. Based on a qualitative study of Chinese PLWHA''s illness experiences, this paper explores how HIV/AIDS, as a social construct, is understood by these individuals in the context of their daily encounters. It is discovered that, despite their knowledge of HIV/AIDS, PLWHA''s perceptions about and responses to this disease are greatly influenced by their experiences of interacting with others (e.g., their families, friends, and health workers). The conflicts between individuals’ mastery of knowledge pertaining to, and their overreactions in practice toward, HIV-infected bodies suggest that AIDS education should not be limited to the dissemination of knowledge per se, but that the interpersonal or interactive dimensions of discrimination and efforts to combat it must also be taken into account. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The HIV epidemic has had major impact on men who have sex with men in China. Most current studies view male-to-male sex as a behavioural dimension or variable affecting HIV infection, paying little attention to the socio-cultural meanings of homosexuality and their impacts on men's experiences with HIV/AIDS. This oversight has impeded understanding of the health practices of this population. Based on a qualitative study of experiences of Chinese people living with HIV/AIDS, this paper explores the complex processes in which men who have sex with men struggle and negotiate with their sexuality, family obligations, and this disease. To facilitate Chinese men who have sex with men in responding effectively to HIV and AIDS, researchers and practitioners should take into account a wide range of contextual factors including desired gender roles, family obligations, homophobia, and HIV-related stigma that contribute to current constructions of 'homosexuality' in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]