Community Reaction to Persons with HIV/AIDS and their Parents in Thailand

We systematically explore community reaction to persons with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) and their families in Thailand from a variety of perspectives and using a variety of data sources. We explore these community reactions during the time of the PHAs' illness and after their deaths. Quantitative data sources include a survey of young adult PHAs (n=425); a survey of parents who suffered the death of an adult child to AIDS (n=394 cases); a KAP study of AIDS that includes both older and young adults (n=1174); and quantitative data from local key informants about cases in their area (n=286 cases). Qualitative sources include 18 in-depth interviews of parents who lost an adult child to AIDS; 49 in-depth interviews of village health volunteers; 6 focus group discussions of community health officials; and 6 group interviews with community hospital nurses. Data were collected during 1999 - 2001 from a variety of settings throughout Thailand.

We find community reaction to PHAs and their families to be somewhat variable across cases, social group, and type of observer, but overall much more positive than one might conclude from existing research on the topic. The overwhelming majority of key informant reports on communities and affected families, and parents of PHAs report either a generally positive community response or a neutral one. Results from our sample of PHAs, who are recruited from PHA support groups, are more mixed. For that minority who were treated poorly, it is suggested by at least some of our data sources that being male, living in the city, living in an area without an NGO working on AIDS, being described as having problematic character, or being at either extreme of the socioeconomic spectrum may elevate the risk of experiencing negative community reaction.

Research and policy implications of the findings are discussed.