HIV disclosure perspectives from HIV-positive parents, HIV-positive children, and HIV-negative children
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Epidemiology, Global Health, Health Policy, HIV, Public Health
- Keywords
- Child HIV status disclosure, HIV disclosure, HIV/AIDS, Resource-poor nation, Qualitative research, Parental HIV status disclosure, Kenya
- Copyright
- © 2014 Gachanja et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2014. HIV disclosure perspectives from HIV-positive parents, HIV-positive children, and HIV-negative children. PeerJ PrePrints 2:e578v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.578v1
Abstract
The aim of this research brief is to describe a study that examined the lived experiences of HIV-positive parents and their biological HIV-positive and negative children before, during, and after the HIV disclosure process in Kenya. This is the first study from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that provides perspectives on HIV disclosure of a parent’s and a child’s illness from the viewpoints of HIV-positive parents, HIV-positive children, and HIV-negative children. Prior studies in SSA have mostly centered on disclosure to HIV-positive children (of their own illnesses) and others have reported on parents disclosing their illnesses to their children. Key Aspects of HIV Disclosure to Children: 1. Disclosure should be performed as a process. 2. It is a parent’s decision on when to disclose but also a child’s right to be told about his/her own, a parent’s, and other family member’s illnesses and deaths. 3. Healthcare professionals should help parents prepare for and disclose family member’s illnesses and prior deaths to their children. 4. Disclosure should preferably be performed when both the parent and child are in good health. 5. Disclosure should be performed when a child shows understanding of the illness and/or maturity. 6. Disclosure planning should include a determination of who is the most suitable person to disclose to a child. 7. Disclosure should be postponed until animportant life event (e.g., taking a national school examination) has occurred. The original research article is located at: https://peerj.com/articles/486.pdf
Author Comment
This research brief summarizes a recently published article that provides the perspectives of HIV-positive parents, HIV-positive children, and HIV-negative children on how HIV disclosure to children should be approached and performed. Policy recommendations are provided to assist healthcare professionals faciltate HIV disclosure from HIV-positive parents to their children.