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Understanding the Relationships Among HIV/AIDS-Related Stigma, Health Service Utilization, and HIV Prevalence and Incidence in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Multi-level Theoretical Perspective.
- Source :
-
American Journal of Community Psychology . Mar2014, Vol. 53 Issue 1/2, p146-158. 13p. 1 Diagram, 1 Graph. - Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- HIV-positive individuals often face community-wide discrimination or public shame and humiliation as a result of their HIV-status. In Sub-Saharan Africa, high HIV incidence coupled with unique cultural contexts make HIV-positive individuals particularly likely to experience this kind of HIV/AIDS-related (HAR) stigma. To date, there is a relatively small amount of high-quality empirical literature specific to HAR stigma in this context, supporting the notion that a better understanding of this phenomenon is needed to inform potential interventions. This paper provides a thorough review of the literature specific to HAR stigma in Sub-Saharan Africa, finding (a) qualitative support for the existence of important relationships between HAR stigma and health service utilization and barriers; (b) a need for more quantitative study of stigma and its relationships both to health service utilization and to HIV outcomes directly; and (c) a disconnect between methodological techniques used in this context-specific literature and well-known theories about stigma as a general phenomenon. This paper then draws from its empirical literature review, as well as from well-known theoretical frameworks from multiple disciplines, to propose a theoretical framework for the ecological and multilevel relationships among HAR stigma, health service utilization, and HIV outcomes in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00910562
- Volume :
- 53
- Issue :
- 1/2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- American Journal of Community Psychology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 94379536
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-014-9628-4