An examination of the HIV serostatus disclosure process among Haitian immigrants in New York City

Abstract

Little is known about the HIV serostatus disclosure experience of Haitian immigrants in the USA. We employed the disclosure processes model to examine the disclosure experience of 21 HIV-positive Haitian immigrants in New York City. Data were collected through in-depth interviews conducted between May 2012 and January 2013 with participants from four community-based organizations providing HIV/AIDS services. Analysis of the interviews yielded several enablers relevant to reasons for disclosure including participants being in a close relationship with someone they trusted or felt comfortable with, and the need for support and understanding about the illness. Some of the barriers to HIV serostatus disclosure were fear of being stigmatized, rejected. For participants who had disclosed to significant others in the USA and in Haiti, they reported that they experienced both positive and negative outcomes including social support, emotional relief, encouragement to take their medication, and on some occasions mistreatments, isolation, and stigma. The strategies participants employed during the disclosure event also revealed the additional challenges immigrants face when deciding to disclose their HIV serostatus to family members living in their country of origin. These findings suggest the need to develop culturally appropriate interventions to address the disclosure needs of ethnic minorities residing in the USA.

Keywords:

• Haitian immigrants
• HIV serostatus
• disclosure
• United States

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Carine Jocelyn, Saeeda Dunston, Mary Jo Petit-Homme, Jolene Bastas, Madelein Stein at Diaspora Community Services (DCS), Fuljens Henry at Haitian-American Community Coalition, Serge Jean at Iris House, Claudette Bontemps-Francois at African Services. The primary author is grateful for the unwavering support the staff and participants from the Women's Supportive Services at DCS provided him from the very beginning of his doctoral research project which led to this paper. DCS was instrumental in helping the primary author gain access to the Haitian community in Brooklyn, NY and connect with the other organizations serving the Haitian community. We thank Drs. Shedra Amy Snipes, Edgar Yoder, and Collins Airhihenbuwa for their guidance in developing the project and analysis of the data. We also thank Dr. Suzanne Maman for her feedback in the revised manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Africana Research Center and the Hintz Graduate Award at the Pennsylvania State University.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This research was funded by the Africana Research Center and the Hintz Graduate Award at the Pennsylvania State University.