Search

Meaning-making has emerged as a core construct in addressing trauma, loss or crisis. This paper considers how diasporic Black Africans living with HIV, who come from interdependent collectivist cultures where the norm is one of implicit support, extend their meaning-making strategies when faced with a diagnosis of HIV. In this qualitative study, 13 Black African migrants and refugees living with HIV in New Zealand were interviewed and the transcripts analysed. After their diagnosis, participants began a journey of reconceptualising situational and global meaning. They extended their meaning-making strategies to include a community of like others to gain explicit support. Caregivers in host countries must understand the meaning-making processes of HIV-positive Black African migrants in order to provide competent services that lead to good social and health outcomes. All healthcare and social services workers should regularly assess Black African migrants and refugees living with HIV for positive social connectedness as well as medication adherence and more specific health concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to recent changes in New Zealand's HIV and immigration situations, there is a growing need to understand the lives of HIV-positive African newcomers there, including how and when they encounter HIV stigma and discrimination. To illuminate the experience of these individuals, interviews with 13 African immigrants or refugees in New Zealand described difficulties with and causes of HIV stigma and decisions about disclosure of HIV diagnosis. The continued presence of stigma suggests that more work must be done on HIV education, privacy enforcement, antistigma campaigns, culturally competent care, and enforcement of existing human rights laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]