How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of Singapore

This article interrogates the mainstream healthcare narrative that frames human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as a chronic disease, and triangulates it with the lived experiences of people with HIV in Singapore. It also examines how HIV patients reconstruct their identities after the diagnosis of HIV...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lai Peng Ho, Esther C. L. Goh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2017-01-01
Series:International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being
Subjects:
HIV
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2017.1333899
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spelling doaj-3ee0c48448ce4eeda8bc99bb55d32b512020-11-24T20:43:42ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being1748-26312017-01-0112110.1080/17482631.2017.13338991333899How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of SingaporeLai Peng Ho0Esther C. L. Goh1Tan Tock Seng HospitalNational University of SingaporeThis article interrogates the mainstream healthcare narrative that frames human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as a chronic disease, and triangulates it with the lived experiences of people with HIV in Singapore. It also examines how HIV patients reconstruct their identities after the diagnosis of HIV. Four HIV patients (two males and two females) were interviewed in depth by an experienced medical social worker. Findings revealed that even as the illness trajectory of HIV has shifted from a terminal condition to a chronic one, living with HIV continues to be fraught with difficulty as society, especially in the Asian context, perceives HIV with much fear and disapproval. The participants had an overwhelming sense of shame when they were initially diagnosed with HIV and they had to reconstruct a liveable identity by containing the shroud of shame, reinforcing their normative identities and constructing new ones. These strategies help them to keep their shame at bay. This paper also unpacks nuanced insights of shame experienced by Chinese HIV patients in an Asian city dominated by Confucian values.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2017.1333899HIVidentity reconstructionchronic diseasenormalityqualitative methodsin-depth interview
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Lai Peng Ho
Esther C. L. Goh
spellingShingle Lai Peng Ho
Esther C. L. Goh
How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of Singapore
International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being
HIV
identity reconstruction
chronic disease
normality
qualitative methods
in-depth interview
author_facet Lai Peng Ho
Esther C. L. Goh
author_sort Lai Peng Ho
title How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of Singapore
title_short How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of Singapore
title_full How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of Singapore
title_fullStr How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of Singapore
title_full_unstemmed How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of Singapore
title_sort how hiv patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of singapore
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
series International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being
issn 1748-2631
publishDate 2017-01-01
description This article interrogates the mainstream healthcare narrative that frames human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as a chronic disease, and triangulates it with the lived experiences of people with HIV in Singapore. It also examines how HIV patients reconstruct their identities after the diagnosis of HIV. Four HIV patients (two males and two females) were interviewed in depth by an experienced medical social worker. Findings revealed that even as the illness trajectory of HIV has shifted from a terminal condition to a chronic one, living with HIV continues to be fraught with difficulty as society, especially in the Asian context, perceives HIV with much fear and disapproval. The participants had an overwhelming sense of shame when they were initially diagnosed with HIV and they had to reconstruct a liveable identity by containing the shroud of shame, reinforcing their normative identities and constructing new ones. These strategies help them to keep their shame at bay. This paper also unpacks nuanced insights of shame experienced by Chinese HIV patients in an Asian city dominated by Confucian values.
topic HIV
identity reconstruction
chronic disease
normality
qualitative methods
in-depth interview
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2017.1333899
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