title: Sources and types of social support that influence engagement in HIV care among Latinos and African Americans.
abstract: The change in HIV from acute to chronic disease due to the introduction of HAART in the mid-1990s increased the importance of its successful management and imposed substantial lifestyle adjustments on HIV-positive people and their support networks. Few studies have examined the sources and types of social support and the areas of care relevant for engagement in HIV treatment among HIV-positive Latinos and African Americans. This paper reports the results of 24 semi-structured in-depth interviews that were conducted with HIV-positive African American and Latino women and men who have sex with men. Formal networks were found to be more critical for engagement in HIV-specific medical care; specifically, study participants relied primarily on health care providers for support in accessing and maintaining illness-specific care. In contrast, informal networks (family and friends) were crucial for other general subsistence care, such as emotional, household-related, and financial support.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Center, Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA. shebageorge@cdrewu.edu
authors.forename: Sheba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Garth
authors.forename: Amy Rock
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Wohl
authors.forename: Frank H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Galvan
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Garland
authors.forename: Hector F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Myers
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors