| Summary: | A descriptive study was initiated to investigate the information needs of gay/bisexual men
with HIV/AIDS on discharge from St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia. In
the last 20 years there has been increasing desire by consumers for information about how to
manage their health care. According to Lazarus's theory of stress and coping, information-seeking
is one response that individuals may use in coping with the stress of serious illness.
Studies have shown that gay/bisexual outpatients with HIV/AIDS , cancer patients, and
hospital patients all have specific information needs about the management of their illnesses.
A dramatic change in the demographics of the patient population with HIV/AIDS
occurred at the hospital between the time the study was conceptualized and when data
collection began. Because of the new combination antiretroviral therapies, fewer
gay/bisexual men with HIV/AIDS were requiring hospitalization and increasing numbers of
injection drug users with HIV/AIDS were being admitted to the hospital in response to the
epidemic of HIV infections in that population. When a sample of gay/bisexual men could not
be obtained in the time projected for the project, the data collection ceased and the
information was analyzed as a pilot study.
Discharge information needs for the 8 subjects of the pilot study were measured on the
40-item Patient Learning Need Scale (PLNS). The relationship between subjects' perceived
information needs and selected sociodemographic and illness-related variables were
examined. The findings indicated that the subjects had a high need for information and had a
high degree of mood disturbance prior to discharge. Because of the small sample size no
significant relationships were found between information needs and sociodemographic and
illness-related variables.
Based on the findings of the pilot study, it is recommended that a full study be conducted
that would include an investigation of information needs of all patients with HIV/AIDS on
discharge from hospital. Because of the need for the involvement of a research assistant,
additional resources are required to conduct a full study. === Applied Science, Faculty of === Nursing, School of === Graduate
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