The psychosocial experiences of activists living with HIV receiving ARV treatment in Limpopo province, South Africa

Abstract

The HI- virus continues to spread globally and remains an outcry in the international community and a burden disease in South Africa. The influence and presence of HIV activists in the community positively contributes to the fight against HIV/AIDS. The HIV activist give face to the disease. The question now becomes how do these people navigate their HIV activism role in the community that they live in, especially in a rural province like Limpopo? what challenges do they face when performing such roles? There is a need to understand the psychosocial experiences of HIV activists on ARV medication. This study aims at exploring the experiences of HIV activists who continuously exert influence in the fight against HIV and the stigma that follows it. Their social, emotional, and psychological experiences are explored regarding the ARV medication. It is argued that although ARVs enhance wellbeing, they change the nature and experience of the illness. The biological experiences of ARVs have been widely studied in research, it is for this reason that the researcher decided to focus on the psychological, emotional, and social experiences of ARVs on HIV activists in Limpopo province. Theoretically, the social constructionism approach was used to provide a theoretical framework as it attempts to understand the human experience, including perception from a historical, cultural, and linguistic way. understanding the experience between individuals, groups, and behaviour, invariably understanding the relationship between HIV related stigma experienced and the support available to the activists. A qualitative approach was used in the study where in depth semi structured interviews were used to collect data. The snowball sampling method was used to select participants for the study. Data was collected and data analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis method. It was evident from the research results that upon diagnosis, most HIV activists had a hard time accepting their diagnosis experiencing negative emotions and thoughts including shock, fear of death, sadness, anger, self-blame, and denial. All the participants had experience with the social effects of taking the medication. The study was concluded with relevant recommendations.