Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Qualitative Health Research
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Anderson, M.
Right arrow Articles by Easterbrook, P.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Anderson, M.
Right arrow Articles by Easterbrook, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Coping With HIV: Caribbean People in the United Kingdom

Moji Anderson

University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica

Gillian Elam

University College London, London, United Kingdom

Ijeoma Solarin

King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Sarah Gerver

King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Kevin Fenton

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Philippa Easterbrook

King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Although Caribbean people in the United Kingdom are increasingly being affected by HIV/AIDS, there has been no examination of how they are coping with the illness. We investigate the coping strategies of HIV-positive Caribbean people using in-depth interviews with a purposively selected group of 25 residents of South London. The main coping strategies were more cognitive than behavioral: restricted disclosure, submersion, faith, and positive reappraisal. These strategies were intertwined in complex ways, and most were rooted in contextual factors, particularly cultural ones. Themes of loss, silence, and reinvention suffused respondents' narratives. Interventions should consider the high degree of stigmatization of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean community, reluctance to disclose, the likelihood of an initial severe reaction to diagnosis, and external stressors. HIV-positive Caribbean people who are coping well could serve as mentors and role models for poor copers and newly diagnosed patients; establishing Caribbean-specific support groups might also assist coping.

Key Words: coping and adaptation • HIV/AIDS • illness and disease • responses • interviews • semistructured • minorities

Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 19, No. 8, 1060-1075 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1049732309341191
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?