Vivência da soropositividade ao HIV/AIDS: Vulnerabilidades e Estratégias de Enfrentamento

Abstract

There have been more than forty years of social presence of HIV and AIDS in societies around the world, a fact that has led to transformations not only in terms of the conception of the disease, but also in people's sexual behavior. Since the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, much has been done about combating the HIV virus in order to prevent the growth in the number of sick and infected people. However, many are still affected by the infection, which affects people and groups unevenly. In this sense, this is a qualitative research that aims to understand and verify the strategies for living with seropositivity, as well as the factors that hinder this process. The study was carried out in two NGOs in the city of Uberlândia/MG that provide care and support to people infected with the HIV virus and/or who have developed AIDS. Users of services offered by NGOs participated in the study, as well as professionals who provide care to these users. The following research instruments were used: a socio-demographic questionnaire, in-depth interviews with professionals and life stories with NGO users. The analysis of the information obtained through the instruments was carried out from the Thematic Content Analysis model, proposed by Bardin (2004) and with the help of the IRAMUTEQ software. Therefore, we sought to investigate the scenario experienced by people living with HIV, highlighting the coping strategies and suffering and/or vulnerabilities resulting from the process. The study demonstrated that people living with HIV find different coping strategies, such as dance, spirituality, healthy eating, the naturalization of HIV and the consequent rupture of silence in relation to society. Vulnerabilities related to prejudice and lack of information were identified, as well as exclusion, mainly in the family and social environment.