Understanding how people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) experience social support in evangelical congregations

Fürj Kuhn, Julie (2023) Understanding how people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) experience social support in evangelical congregations. Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The HIV epidemic continues to be a global health crisis with an estimated 38 million people living with HIV worldwide. It is increasingly important to examine the psychosocial and spiritual issues that are present among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to help decrease at-risk behavior and stigma associated with HIV. Faith can be an empowering social support system for PLWHA. Evangelical congregations have the potential to be HIV-comportment communities. This qualitative study utilizes hermeneutic phenomenology to analyze and interpret the lived experiences of 12 PLWHA who have a connection to an evangelical congregation. Anti-Oppression Theory and the intersectionality of faith and HIV, as it relates to oppression and empowerment, provide the conceptual framework for this study. Six major themes emerged from the data: Multifaceted Stigma, Power and Oppression, Patients as Educators, Our Voices Matter: What Works and What Doesn’t, Where Do We Fit In, and Mortality with Eternity in Mind. The most prominent theme, Multifaceted Stigma, identified congregational discrimination, lack of knowledge, and negative attitudes about HIV towards participants in this study. Findings highlighted a variety of psycho-social stressors exhibited by PLWHA, the importance of perceived and received support in congregations, and the intersection between spirituality and Anti-Oppressive Practice. The implications of these findings indicate the importance of PLWHA’s individual and collective voices; provide suggestions for evangelical congregations to become HIV-competent communities; and discuss the role of congregational social work with PLWHA.

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