scholarly journals Sources and types of information on self-care symptom management strategies for HIV and AIDS

Curationis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Regis R. Marie Modeste ◽  
Sisana J. Majeke

Background: It has been reported that South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV worldwide, with more women being infected than men. Women living with HIV have been documented as experiencing various symptoms related to HIV and use various strategies to manage these symptoms.Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the sources and types of information regarding self-care symptom management strategies received by women living with HIV.Method: The study was conducted at an HIV clinic in an urban area of KwaZulu-Natal. Individual in-depth interviews were completed with 11 women who were living with HIV,exploring the sources of information received on how they manage the HIV- (and/or AIDS-) related symptoms they experienced as well as the types of information received. The collecteddata were analysed using qualitative content analysis.Results: The participants identified various sources, which mainly included groups of people who provided them with information on how to manage their HIV-related symptoms, namely healthcare providers, their personal networks and the community. The different sources offered different types of information, including the use of medication, complementary treatments and self-comforting activities.Conclusion: The study highlights that participants used multiple sources to get information about how to manage the experienced symptoms related to HIV, namely, healthcare providers, family and friends as well as themselves. It is to be noted that each source provided a preferred type of information.

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Regis R. Marie Modeste ◽  
Sisana J. Majeke

People living with HIV and AIDS experience a number of symptoms such as fatigue, nausea and vomiting, fever and anxiety during the various stages of the illness. This has a negative effect on their quality of life. Women are the most commonly infected group and are at greater risk of acquiring HIV than men. In addition to their vulnerability, women have other responsibilities in society and expectations from society to fulfil. Women’s health-seeking and health practice behaviours are often hindered by a number of factors, including family responsibilities, poverty and fear.This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study aimed at exploring the self-care symptommanagement strategies used by women living with HIV and AIDS in an urban area in KwaZulu-Natal in 2006.Eleven participants were selected through a purposive sampling method until saturation was reached. Individuals were assessed in depth, using the symptom-management strategy interview.Qualitative content analysis was used to examine the transcribed interviews, using a deductive approach based on the categories of self-care symptom-management strategies.Various physical and psychological symptoms and a number of self-care symptom-management strategies were reported by the participants and these included taking medication and seeking help.The study makes recommendations on how to improve women’s ability to employ a self-care strategy in managing their HIV- and AIDS-related symptoms.OpsommingMense wat met MIV en Vigs leef, ervaar verskeie simptome in die verskillende stadiums van die siekte, soos moegheid, naarheid en braking, koors en angstigheid. Dit het ’n negatiewe effek op hul lewensgehalte. Vroue is die groep wat die meeste besmet word, en staan ’n groter risiko om MIV op te doen as mans. Benewens hul vatbaarheid, het vroue ook ander verantwoordelikhede en verwagtinge om in die samelewing te vervul. Vroue se gesondheidsbevorderende en gesondheidspraktykgedrag word dikwels gekniehalter deur ’n aantal faktore, wat familieverantwoordelikhede, armoede en vrees insluit.Hierdie artikel bied die bevindinge aan van ’n kwalitatiewe studie gemik op die verkenning van selfsorg-simptoombeheerstrategieë wat deur vroue met MIV en Vigs in 2006 in ’n stedelike gebiedin KwaZulu-Natal gebruik is.’n Steekproef van 11 respondente is geselekteer deur middel van ’n doelbewuste steekproefmetode totdat versadiging bereik is. Individuele diepte-onderhoude is gevoer deur gebruik te maak van die simptoombeheerstrategie-onderhoud. Kwalitatiewe inhoudelike analise is gebruik om die getranskribeerde onderhoude te analiseer deur middel van ’n deduktiewe metode gegrond op die kategorieë van selfsorg-simptoombeheerstrategieë.Verskeie fisiese en psigologiese simptome asook ’n aantal selfsorg-simptoombeheerstrategieë is deur die respondente gerapporteer. Die selfsorg-simptoombeheerstrategieë wat in die studie identifiseer is, het die neem van medikasie en die soek na hulp ingesluit.Die studie maak aanbevelings oor hoe om vroue se vermoë om ’n selfsorg-strategie om MIV- en Vigs-verwante simptome te beheer, te verbeter.


2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 335-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inge B. Corless ◽  
Dean Wantland ◽  
Kenn M. Kirksey ◽  
Patrice K. Nicholas ◽  
Sarie Human ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Chimphamba Gombachika ◽  
Ellen Chirwa ◽  
Address Malata ◽  
Alfred Maluwa

With wider access to antiretroviral therapy, people living with HIV are reconsidering their reproductive decisions: remarrying and having children. The purpose of the paper is to explore sources of information for reproductive decision used by couples living with HIV in patrilineal and matrilineal districts of Malawi. Data were collected from forty couples from July to December 2010. Our results illuminate five specific issues: some of the informants (1) remarry after divorce/death of a spouse, (2) establish new marriage relationship with spouses living with HIV, and (3) have children hence the need for information to base their decisions. There are (4) shared and interactive couple decisions, and (5) informal networks of people living with HIV are the main sources of information. In addition, in matrilineal community, cultural practices about remarriage set up structures that constrained information availability unlike in patrilineal community where information on sexual and reproductive health, HIV, and AIDS was disseminated during remarriage counselling. However, both sources are not able to provide comprehensive information due to complexity and lack of up to date information. Therefore, health workers should, offer people living with HIV comprehensive information that takes into consideration the cultural specificity of groups, and empower already existing and accepted local structures with sexual and reproductive health, HIV, and AIDS knowledge.


Author(s):  
Joachim G. Voss ◽  
Julie Barroso ◽  
Tongyao Wang

Despite improved antiretroviral treatments, people living with HIV (PLWH) continue to suffer from HIV-related fatigue and sleep disturbances. We first reviewed the definition, etiology, and research breakthroughs of HIV-related fatigue and sleep disturbances, then analyzed nurse-led symptom management studies to describe their efficacy and make recommendations for future symptom research. We searched PubMed, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Psych and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and Scopus to identify nurse-led studies on symptom management for PLWH in the past 20 years. A total of 13 experimental or quasi-experimental studies were identified. The types of interventions included exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy, coaching, and symptom management manualized self-care activities. Currently, we cannot recommend with certainty any of the tested symptom management strategies to reduce fatigue or sleep disturbances. The current findings need to be confirmed and expanded to understand optimal dosing and sustainability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 346
Author(s):  
Shuyu Han ◽  
Yaolin Pei ◽  
Lina Wang ◽  
Yan Hu ◽  
Xiang Qi ◽  
...  

Persons living with HIV (PLWH) continuously experience symptom burdens. Their symptom prevalence and severity are also quite different. Mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) offer exceptional opportunities for using personalized interventions when and where PLWH are needed. This study aimed to demonstrate the development process of the symptom management (SM) app and the structure and content of it. Our research team systematically searched for evidence-based resources and summarized up-to-date evidence for symptom management and health education. Our multidisciplinary research team that included physicians, nurses, software engineers, and nursing professors, evaluated the structure and content of the drafted app. Both quantitative data and qualitative results were collected at a group discussion meeting. Quantitative data were scores of sufficient evidence, situational suitability, practicability, cost-effectiveness, and understandability (ranged from one to four) for 119 items of the app contents, including the health tracking module, the self-assessment module, coping strategies for 18 symptoms (80 items), medication management, complementary therapy, diet management, exercise, relaxation techniques, and the obtaining support module. The SM app was comprised of eight modules and provided several personalized symptom management functions, including assessing symptoms and receiving different symptom management strategies, tracking health indicators, and communicating with medical staff. The SM app was a promising and flexible tool for HIV symptom management. It provided PLWH with personalized symptom management strategies and facilitated the case management for medical staff. Future studies are needed to further test the app’s usability among PLWH users and its effects on symptom management.


2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Louie ◽  
Nopporn Pathanapornpandh ◽  
Unchalee Pultajuk ◽  
Robert Kaplan ◽  
Ian Hodgson ◽  
...  

Acupuncture in combination with antiretroviral therapies is a potentially useful treatment for HIV-related symptom relief in resource-poor settings. Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history of being used to enhance immune function. In the setting of HIV, Chinese traditional medicine allows for symptom treatment without adding extra medications to a complex drug regime. This paper provides details of a project at Mae On Hospital in rural northern Thailand where allopathic/conventional treatments are used in tandem with acupuncture. A preliminary evaluation of the project suggests that an integrated approach to symptom relief is viewed positively by respondents receiving acupuncture, though further studies are required to confirm the association between acupuncture and symptom relief. The project also demonstrates the feasibility of developing a cost-effective acupuncture programme using local healthcare staff.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document