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'The Own' and 'The Wise' as Social Support for Older People Living with HIV in the United Kingdom

'The Own' and 'The Wise' as Social Support for Older People Living with HIV in the United Kingdom Thumbnail


Abstract

As the HIV population ages, how the ageing and HIV experiences intersect to shape the lives of older people living with HIV (PLWH) becomes an increasingly pressing question. This multi-method study investigated social support, mental health, and quality of life among 100 older PLWH in the United Kingdom. Drawing on data from three focus groups and 74 lifePage 1 of 33 For Review only 2 history interviews with older (aged 50+) white men who have sex with men (MSM), and black African and white heterosexual men and women, living with HIV, we explore participants’ distinctions between, evaluations of, and access to sources of social support. Participants distinguished between support from the HIV-negative (Goffman’s ‘the own’) and experientially-based support from other PLWH (Goffman’s ‘the wise’), and viewed the former, while valuable, as needing to be supplemented by the latter. Furthermore, access to experientially-based support varied across participant groups, whose communities had different histories with HIV/AIDS and thus different degrees of knowledge about HIV and avenues for connecting to other PLWH. Thus, social support among older PLWH cannot be neatly divided into ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ domains, or fully appreciated by applying traditional social support measures, including, in the context of health conditions, ‘peer support’ created through formal service organisations. Rather, older PLWH’s own distinctions and evaluations better illuminate the complexities of social support in the context of ageing with HIV. Keywords: social support, HIV, Goffman

Acceptance Date Jun 15, 2018
Publication Date Jan 1, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Ageing and Society
Print ISSN 0144-686X
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Pages 188-204
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X18000909
Keywords social support
HIV
Goffman
Publisher URL http://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X18000909

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