People living with HIV and AIDS : an exploration of their positive and negative experiences in health-care settings and whether it affects their health-seeking behaviour.

Abstract

The present study investigated what kinds of experiences are being felt by eight people living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus at the different health care sites that they frequent. It also explored the implications of both positive and negative experiences at health care settings for health seeking behaviour. The research was of a qualitative nature and data was collected through patient interviews which were semi-structured. Participants were sourced from an HIV and AIDS clinic at the South African Trade Workers Union Worker Health Program in Johannesburg, South Africa. After analysis, the results yielded showed that both negative and positive experiences were felt by people living with HIV and AIDS at their health care settings. The presence of negative experiences were mostly related to the lack of resources at the various health care settings. It was found that positive experiences were much more abundant than negative ones, and were found to be influenced by Doctor and Nurse support, and Personal Factors. It was found that the positive experiences did contribute to the participant’s motivation to keep visiting their respective health care settings.