“HIV is a Story, not Life”: Resilience among South Asian Women living with HIV in Canada

Saipriya Vajravelu , Kelly K O'Brien , Sandra Moll , Patricia Solomon
Share:
Articles
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47985/dcidj.553
Submitted: 2021-11-06 02:38:40
Published: 2022-08-05

Purpose: This study aimed to understand how immigrant South Asian women living with HIV in Canada develop resilience and to identify their self-management strategies. These strategies could be used by marginalised women and can be supported by health providers.  

Method: The study participants were eight South Asian women with HIV, living in Ontario, Canada. The women belonged to an urban HIV community organisation. Qualitative methods were used to investigate their experiences. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted, utilising a photo/object elicitation technique, to identify the strategies used to develop resilience.

Results: The women were primarily in mid-adulthood (age range 39-60 years) and had lived for many years with HIV (range 8-25 years).  Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts revealed three themes characterising strategies for resilience: identifying the need for self-care, maintaining social connectivity, and remaining optimistic.

Conclusion and Implications: With these strategies, the women had cultivated strength and perseverance in adjusting to adversity. Viewing the resilience of South Asian immigrant women living with HIV through a cultural lens could help to understand and facilitate the development of culturally acceptable self-management strategies.

Keywords

Resilience South Asian women HIV/AIDS disability

Authors

Saipriya Vajravelu
Saipriya Vajravelu is a Doctoral student in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University.
Kelly K O'Brien
Kelly O’Brien, Ph.D., PT is a Physical Therapist and Clinical Epidemiologist who holds a Canada Research Chair in Episodic Disability and Rehabilitation. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, cross-appointed with the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research (CEHCR), and Rehabilitation Sciences Institutes (RSI) at the University of Toronto. Her research is focused on episodic disability and rehabilitation in the context of HIV and chronic disease. Kelly is also a founding member of the Canada-International HIV and Rehabilitation Research Collaborative (CIHRRC).
Sandra Moll
Sandra is an Occupational Therapist and Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Her clinical and research expertise is in the area of mental health, building on over a decade of frontline clinical work and over two decades of applied research. Her primary program of research focuses on mental health, along the continuum from mental health promotion to intervention and return to work, including young workers, students, healthcare providers and first responders.
Patricia Solomon
Patricia Solomon is Professor Emerita in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Dr. Solomon is among the first rehabilitation scientists to develop a research program in the emerging area of HIV, disability, and the role of rehabilitation. She has received CIHR funding for her research related to disability experienced by women living with HIV and the influence of aging on adults living with HIV. She has been on the board of directors of two AIDS service organizations and is currently working with a team to examine HIV and disability in a global context.

How to Cite

Saipriya Vajravelu, Kelly K O'Brien, Sandra Moll, Patricia Solomon (2022-08-05). “HIV is a Story, not Life”: Resilience among South Asian Women living with HIV in Canada. Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development, Vol. 33 No. 2: (Summer) - 2022, 22-40. https://doi.org/10.47985/dcidj.553

Download Citation

License

Copyright © 2022 The Author(s)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

View License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution License By-NC-ND 4.0  that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See  The Effect of Open Access ).

Similar Articles

1-10 of 426

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Most read articles by the same author(s)