AIDSimpact special issue: stigma, serostatus disclosure, coping strategies, and the role of social capital resources among HIV care-nonadherent MSM in Russia: a qualitative analysis. AIDS Care 2024 Jan 30:1-9
Date
01/30/2024Pubmed ID
38289620DOI
10.1080/09540121.2024.2305785Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85183840673 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)Abstract
The HIV epidemic continues to expand in Russia, with suboptimal levels of care uptake. This qualitative study aimed to characterize social capital resources and lived stigma experiences, coping, and disclosure among care-nonadherent men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV in Russia. Twenty-five HIV-positive MSM - recruited online - completed in-depth interviews over Zoom, with data analyzed using MAXQDA software. Stigma was more likely to be encountered in interactions with persons with whom social ties were weaker such as medical providers and relatives, particularly males. Close friends - often other HIV-positive MSM and female relatives - were the most supportive and least stigmatizing. Similar persons were most often considered for HIV serostatus disclosure. Coping strategies to reduce the impact of stigma included ignoring stigmatizing experiences, seeking support from members of one's social circle, minimizing contact with stigmatizing persons, seeking new relationships with persons who are also HIV-positive, proactively reducing stigma through involvement in advocacy roles, and correcting myths and educating others about HIV infection. These findings underscore the need for interventions to assist HIV-positive MSM in building accepting social capital resources to reduce the impact of stigma and to build support within their social networks, often with other HIV-positive MSM.
Author List
Amirkhanian YA, Meylakhs AY, Kuznetsova AV, Kelly JA, Quinn KGAuthors
Yuri A. Amirkhanian PhD Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinJeffrey A. Kelly PhD Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Katherine Quinn PhD Associate Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
