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AIDS grief and multiple loss: the experiences of individuals within an AIDS service organization

University of British Columbia

This qualitative study identified the experiences of AIDS grief and multiple loss by eight individuals within an AIDS service organization in the province of Alberta. Collaborative, ethnographic, and narrative approaches in research design and analysis were used to connect and analyze audio-taped and transcribed interviews. Critical case sampling assisted in choosing participants who had a minimum of one year involvement with this organization, and who had experienced multiple losses and deaths from AIDS. Participants represented multiple roles within this organization including client, board, volunteer, management, counselor, and administrative support staff. Interviews were analyzed for repeating themes and reconstructed into a narrative life story for each participant. These themes and stories were compared between participants resulting in an ethnographic analysis about multiple loss within this community and culture. The central challenge, woven throughout the individual and organizational history, was 'balancing pain of loss with hope and commitment'. Participants described four core themes emerging from this central challenge: 'layers and cycles' of multiple losses; 'not enough or limited time' to grieve; which creates an urgency to 'fight'; in a setting where there are normative 'complex and blurred roles and relationships'. A cyclical process of coping was identified: tension and emotions build; episodic expressions of grief occur (over reaction and out of proportion expressions, and black humor); numbness develops (due to being overwhelmed); heightened anxiety & catastrophic thinking set in (associated with anticipation of greater loss and especially noted in those HIV positive); efforts to distance oneself occur (temporary to permanent which provide opportunity to integrate, reflect and replenish energy) and protective strategies are created to reduce the impact of multiple loss; memorializing and sharing with the select few who understand occurs; and there is expeditious reinvestment of feelings into a recommitment (which helps to honor those who have died and contribute to those who now need support). Participants highlight the consequences of AIDS grief on individual and organizational functioning, and identify/recommend strategies for resilient coping. The diverse social and organization factors impacting AIDS grief and multiple loss were also identified.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-06-11

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8944

Social Work

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace