The Role of Social Support in Coping with HIV/AIDS
The topic of HIV/AIDS is particularly relevant in a South African context due to the rate of infection in this country, as well as the government’s stance on HIV/AIDS policy. South has Africa has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world. The Mbeki regime’s policy has only recently been changed to increase the availability of antiretrovirals to those infected. While these antiretrovirals may be used to treat the virus itself, they are ineffective in dealing with the stressors associated with the virus. Indeed, it can be argued that environmental factors, specifically social support, have the greatest positive influence in this regard. This essay will consider whether this is the case by examining the role of social support in dealing with the HIV/AIDS diagnosis, related health decline and infections and the prejudice and stigma attached to said diagnosis.
In order to do this, one must first examine the definition of social support. Thoits (1995) as cited in Mizuno, Purcell, Dawson-Rose, Parsons & The Sudis Team (2003 p.690) defines social support as “instrumental, emotional or informational assistance from significant others” and goes on to find social support “one of the major coping resources for people experiencing stressful life events or chronic strains.” “Significant others” is generally understood to mean partners, friends and family, but could also refer to traditional caregivers in a hospital environment. Friedland, Renwick & McColl (1996) go on to elaborate that different types of social support may be valued at different stages of an illness.
Being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS is in itself a stressor (Avison & Turner, 1998 in Friedland et al., 1996). Green (1993) goes on to elaborate on other stressors associated with living with the disease, such as discrimination, social rejection and loss of