Social Representations of Quality of Life among People Living with HIV

Abstract

The present work aimed to verify social representations about quality of life (QoL) among people living with HIV who participate and who do not participate in the Adhesion Group. There were 22 PLHIV participating, 9 participants in the adherence group and 13 non-participants in the group, selected for convenience. The average ages were 46.2 years (SD= 10.5) and 47 years (SD= 14.2) respectively. Data collection took place online and in person, between October 2020 and January 2021. Three instruments were used: sociodemographic questionnaire, semi-structured interview and the Free Word Association Technique (TALP). Analyzed respectively by descriptive statistics, Descending Hierarchical Classification (through the Iramuteq software) and Semantic Network Technique. The results demonstrated similar social representations between the groups, in which QoL is predominantly positive and is mainly linked to treatment, being represented positively in situations of treatment adherence. Participants in the Adhesion Group showed representations associated with coping strategies. Therefore, treatment appears to be fundamental in the representation of QoL among PLHIV and participation in the support group highlights representations anchored in positive coping resources as a differential.