Usefulness of rights based written narratives on sexual and reproductive health among HIV-infected women in Western Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Narrative communication is emerging as an effective form of health communication in the research being carried out globally. This exploratory study assessed perceived usefulness of a book of seven narratives on different issues related to sexual and reproductive health among HIV-infected couples. Sixteen in-depth interviews and 174 structured interviews were conducted among HIV-infected women to understand the usefulness of such narratives and differences in knowledge and attitude respectively. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The written narratives were perceived to be useful by HIV-infected women. They positively affected the self-efficacy beliefs of women, improved acceptance of the partner, helped them cope with the disease and in making more informed decisions as well as contributing to decreased misconceptions. The narratives were simultaneously perceived as “too emotional”, discouraging women to engage with the text. The knowledge and attitude about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) does not seem to be statistically significantly different among women who read the book compared to those who did not read it. In diseases such as HIV, which can lead to biographical disruption, this research shows that there is need for health communication that supports people in accepting and emotionally coping with the disease.

Keywords

• written narrative communication
• hiv/aids
• india
• sexual and reproductive health
• transportation-imagery model