Women coping with AIDS in Africa: Contributions of a contextually grounded research methodology

Abstract

The primary objective of this report is to describe a contextually grounded approach to the investigation of coping and psychological functioning in AIDS-sick mothers. Five AIDS-sick women on antiretroviral therapy who had at least one child under 6 years of age living in their households were interviewed. Among the issues that emerged was the complexity of the women's psychological functioning, the fact that they made strategic decisions about disclosure aimed at protecting important social support networks, and that their well-being was dynamically influenced by factors in the home and community. The study provides evidence for the value of a contextual approach when investigating the psychological functioning of HIV positive mothers living in poor high-HIV prevalence communities in developing countries.

Keywords:

• AIDS
• women
• Africa
• psychological functioning
• contextual approach
• methodology

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) and the Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR) at the University of Cape Town.

The authors acknowledge the women who participated in the study and who gave so willingly of their time to share details of their lives with the researchers. We also extend thanks to Lindiwe Mthembu-Salter, our fieldworker, and to Lucie Cluver and Nicoli Nattrass who commented on earlier drafts of this paper.

The paper is dedicated to a participant who passed away shortly after the study's completion.