“Now I Know I Love Me”: The Trajectory to Self-Acceptance Among HIV Positive Adults in a Southeastern U.S. Community Center

Abstract

Individuals with HIV are now living healthier, longer lives due to the advancement of effective drug therapy. Understanding the dynamic narratives of the aging population of adults with HIV is critical in amplifying the voice of those who are often marginalized and to inform those social and medical providers with whom they most frequently engage. This article describes the narratives of 18 adults between the ages of 38 and 60 years diagnosed with HIV who frequent a community-based center in the southeastern United States. Recorded semi-structured interviews focused on how participants’ lives had changed since diagnosis with HIV. Transcribed interviews analyzed for emergent themes. Analysis of participant narratives revealed a cohesive trajectory from self-condemnation toward self-acceptance including acquisition of HIV and judgment of past behaviors, aftermath of the diagnosis, cultivating hope, and self-acceptance. Findings offer a window into the experiences of multiply marginalized adults living with HIV in the southern United States. Examining illness narratives in the context of their unique experience within an exclusively HIV-positive support center may offer valuable information for medical and social service providers as they develop strategies to support the aging population of adults living with HIV.