title: 'It [HIV] is part of the relationship': exploring communication among HIV-serodiscordant couples in South Africa and Tanzania.
abstract: In many sub-Saharan African countries, a high proportion of people living with HIV are in long-term serodiscordant relationships. This paper explores how HIV serodiscordance shapes communication among couples in long-term HIV-serodiscordant relationships. A total of 36 couples were purposively recruited through healthcare providers and civil society organisations in South Africa (26) and Tanzania (10). We explored couples' portrayal of living in a serodiscordant relationship by conducting semi-structured interviews with each partner separately, followed by a joint interview with both partners. Using an adaptation of Persson's model on sero-silence and sero-sharing, we categorised coping style as 'sero-silent' if partners reported that they did not talk much with each other about issues related to their serodiscordant status or as 'sero-sharing' if they portrayed HIV as being an issue which they dealt with together. Some couples exhibited features of both coping styles and, at times, partners differed in their ways of coping.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Policy & Medical Research Council Health Policy Research Group, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Laetitia.rispel@wits.ac.za
authors.forename: Laetitia C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Rispel
authors.forename: Allanise
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cloete
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Metcalf
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moody
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Caswell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003075:Coitus / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology*; D020010:Heterosexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D012938:Social Perception; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa; D013636:Tanzania; D055815:Young Adult