Knowledge generation for the HIV-affected family.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the current literature about HIV-affected families in regard to knowledge development and priorities for future research.


CONCLUSIONS
The current view of HIV focuses largely on HIV-infected individuals. There is a paucity of relevant research and a need to make explicit the priorities for knowledge generation about HIV-affected families.


METHODS
HIV family literature, 1980-1996, was reviewed and categorized and serves as the context for presenting future priorities for knowledge generation about HIV-affected families. Priorities identified were designing and testing family-level services; determining epidemiology of the phenomenon of HIV family caregiving; who gives care and why, what caregivers do, the outcomes of caregiving, quality of family care, and relationships


CONCLUSIONS
A critical need is to address in-depth the problems that have limited knowledge development about HIV-affected families. This explication of issues and questions to understand HIV-affected families can stimulate future research.
Brown
M A
MA
Department of Family and Child Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA.
D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D015658:HIV Infections; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D015399:Nursing Research