This study explores and describes the perceived needs of women living with HIV/AIDS in Saskatchewan. A purposive
sample was used to recruit women to participate in three focus groups. A total of eleven women from urban and rural
areas of Saskatchewan participated. Based on seroprevalence estimates this number may represent one third to one half of
all expected cases of women with HIV/AIDS in Saskatchewan. Recursive analysis was used to validate the themes identified in the first two focus groups with participants
in a third focus group. Content analysis of the data identified four themes from the women's experiences: 1) medical needs, 2) economic needs, 3) mental health needs,
and 4) service needs. The results support previous studies which indicate that women with HIV have a number of unmet heeds. Women from rural areas were found to have more unmet needs and limited access to appropriate services and supports than urban women. Three types of coping strategies
were found to be used by the women in getting their needs met: avoidance, maintenance, and mastery. Those who
utilized a mastery coping strategy were more successful in having their needs met than those who did not. A number of individual, organizational, systemic, and policy
interventions are identified to assist women in moving towards mastery coping strategies. Social workers can work at the clinical, family group, and policy levels to improve
the situation for women living with HIV/AIDS in Saskatchewan.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/4122 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Smith, Darren |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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