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“New Beginnings”: A Case Study in Gay Men's Changing Perceptions of Quality of Life during the Course of HIV Infection
Author(s) -
Bloom Frederick R.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
medical anthropology quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.855
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1548-1387
pISSN - 0745-5194
DOI - 10.1525/maq.2001.15.1.38
Subject(s) - narrative , ethnography , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , perception , quality of life (healthcare) , psychology , thematic analysis , life course approach , gerontology , gender studies , cohort , qualitative research , developmental psychology , sociology , medicine , art , anthropology , psychotherapist , literature , family medicine , neuroscience
This article reports results of an ethnographic study that sought to understand how a cohort of gay men living with HIV infection evaluated and worked to preserve or improve the quality of their lives. Themes of life story narratives are identified, each with an associated stylistic selforientation to living with HIV infection. Changes in thematic content of a selected participant's life story narratives are discussed, demonstrating how events of his daily life are integrated into the narratives. Resultant concurrent shifting of themes and stylistic orientations is linked to his perception of improved quality of life, [quality of life, life story, HIV/AIDS, illness experience, U.S. culture]