Social Support of Persons Living with HIV AIDS in Delhi, India - An Exploration

Introduction: Enabling the environment has been one of the significant components of HIV prevention programs nationwide. Unfortunately, many studies of the social support for HIV positive persons found low social support for PLHA. Therefore, there is a need to assess the availability of social support to HIV positive persons in light of the new drug regime and support networks developed by the National AIDS control policy. Social support is the perceived support during times of crisis. It may include tangible as well as intangible support. Method: The researcher interviewed 105 HIV positive persons using a semi-structured interview schedule. FGD and case studies were employed to get in-depth, qualitative information. A total of 60 (57.1%) were males, 40 (38.1%) were females, and 05 (4.8%) were transgender. A majority, 84 (80%), were heterosexual, 14 (13.3%) homosexual and 07 (6.7%) bi-sexual. A total of 34 (32.5%) were illiterate, 47 (44.8%) studied up to middle school level, and 24 (22%) studied above middle school. A total of 47 (44.8%) earned Rs 500-4000/ per month, 28 (26.7%) earned more than Rs 4000 per month, whereas 30 (28.6%) had no income. Of 105, 60 (57.1) were on ART. A total 77 (73.3%) were beneficiaries of Targeted Intervention projects, while 28 (26.7%) were not. Results: The social support was low. None of the respondents had good social support. Income affected the social support significantly at p20.01. The duration of HIV infection too affected the social support significantly at p2 0.05. Moreover, FGD revealed that as time passes, they develop a new support group of positive persons. Knowledge of Anti-Retroviral Therapy was affected by social support though negatively but significantly. The researcher found that more persons with low Social Support knew about ART Services. Conclusion: Reduced social support is true for all the marginalized sections of society due to deviation from normative behaviour. We must not lose sight of the importance of enabling the environment while addressing the need to restore the individual to the previous group or create a new support group to lessen his feeling of maladjustment.