title: HIV/AIDS stories on the World Wide Web and transformation perspective.
abstract: Survivor stories have been an important part of therapy and social support for persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome AIDS (PLWHAs), and the World Wide Web has made these stories accessible to a vast audience. These stories are examined in the light of the concept of "transformation perspective" defined as a self-communicative experience that changes an individual's life so that priorities and self-identity are refocused. The trigger event that alters the individual's life might be a diagnosis with cancer, HIV, diabetes, or some other serious illness; divorce; financial tragedy; unemployment; or retirement. The "disorienting dilemma," according to Mezirow, leads to self-examination, and thus to changes in the individual's frame of reference. The present study found that PLWHA's stories with more details were more likely to reflect transformation perspective.
authors.affiliation: Media Arts Department, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Shaheed N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Mohammed
authors.forename: Avinash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thombre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections; D020276:HIV Long-Term Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration