Perceptions of functional wellness in women living with HIV in South Carolina, United States: Voices from both patients and providers

ABSTRACT

Functional wellness refers to optimal functioning across multiple domains of health and wellbeing (e.g., physical, psychological, social, spiritual), and posits that wellness goes beyond traditional physical/biological health outcomes to include behavioral and social dimensions of health. Its application could contribute to developing integrated care and improving self-management for HIV patients including women living with HIV (WLH). In order to explore the perceptions of functional wellness from the perspectives of both healthcare providers (HCPs) and WLH, we conducted in-depth interviews among a purposive sample of 20 WLH and 10 HCPs in South Carolina. Most of the WLH were African American, older, living in urban setting and diagnosed over five years ago. The HCPs were dominantly female and represented different types of healthcare providers. Qualitative analysis was guided by the ground theory and conducted using the software NVivo 11. The WLH and HCPs had some common perceptions on wellness. To achieve functional wellness, WLH should be living and functioning in their daily life, be able to take care of themselves and develop resilience, be engaged in social activities, and prevent themselves from comorbidities (e.g., chronic disease, mental health issues) by receiving holistic service in response to the needs of womanhood.

KEYWORDS:

• Functional wellness
• women living with HIV
• healthcare providers
• qualitative study

Acknowledgments

The study was supported by an internal grant of the University of South Carolina. The authors also want to thank Elizabeth McLendon, Morgan Deal, Josh McConnell, Domonique G. Webley, Katie Zenger and Ahad Zwooqar for their assistance to the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by an internal grant of the University of South Carolina.