Changing access to mental health care and social support when people living with HIV/Aids become service providers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19444052 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alan Tai-Wai Li (0000-0002-4230-0365, AIDS Committee of Toronto, corresponding author), Joshua Wales (St. Michael's Hospital), Josephine Pui-Hing Wong (0000-0002-8262-7725, Toronto Metropolitan University), Maureen Owino (AIDS Committee of Toronto), Yvette Perreault (AIDS Committee of Toronto), Andrew Miao, Precious Maseko (AIDS Committee of Toronto), Charlie Guiang (0000-0003-0545-854X, St. Michael's Hospital) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 176-181 |
| Publication date | 2015-02-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | AIDS Care (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0954-0121 • E-ISSN: 1360-0451 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09540121.2014.940269 |
| PMID | 25069033 |
| OpenAlex | W2028571249 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 13 |
As people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) achieve more stable health, many have taken on active peer support and professional roles within AIDS service organizations. Although the increased engagement has been associated with many improved health outcomes, emerging program and research evidence have identified new challenges associated with such transition. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative interpretive study that explored the effect of this role transition on PHA service providers' access to mental health support and self care. A total of 27 PHA service providers of diverse ethno-racial backgrounds took part in the study. Results show that while role transition often improves access to financial and health-care benefits, it also leads to new stress from workload demands, emotional triggers from client's narratives, feeling of burnout from over-immersion in HIV at both personal and professional levels, and diminished self care. Barriers to seeking support included: concerns regarding confidentiality; self-imposed and enacted stigma associated with accessing mental health services; and boundary issues resulting from changes in relationships with peers and other service providers. Evolving support mechanisms included: new formal and informal peer support networks amongst colleagues or other PHA service providers to address both personal and professional challenges, and having access to professional support offered through the workplace. The findings suggest the need for increased organizational recognition of HIV support work as a form of emotional labor that places complex demands on PHA service providers. Increased access to employer-provided mental health services, supportive workplace policies, and adequate job-specific training will contribute to reduced work-related stress. Community level strategies that support expansion of social networks amongst PHA service providers would reduce isolation. Systemic policies to increase access to insurance benefits and enhance sector-wide job preparedness and post-employment support will sustain long-term and meaningful involvement of PHAs in service provision
Business · Confidentiality · Feeling · Mental health · Peer support · Political science · Psychiatry · Public relations · Qualitative research · Service provider · Social support · Sociology · Emotional Labor in Professions · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing
Participatory Action Research
The Managed Heart
Challenges to the involvement of people living with HIV in community-based HIV/Aids organizations in Ontario, Canada
The involvement of people living with HIV/Aids in community-based organizations
Using thematic analysis in psychology
The Sociological Analysis of Professionalism
Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2023 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |