Advisor(s)
Ann Elizabeth Montgomery
Committee Member(s)
Emma Kay
Gavin Jenkins
Gregory Pavela
Jennifer Gala True
School
School of Health Professions
Document Type
Dissertation
Department (new version)
Health Education/Promotion (Public Health)
Date of Award
1-8-2025
Abstract
At the end of 2022, there were 1,109,418 adults and adolescents with HIV in the United States and the six dependent areas of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Palau, and the US Virgin Islands (CDC, 2024). Due to ongoing advances in medications and treatments, people who have been diagnosed with HIV are living longer and healthier lives, making this a chronic health condition. Yet, there are gaps in the literature that focuses on this population growing older and aging in place. This dissertation investigated the lived experiences of individuals fifty years and older living with HIV who are homebound due to one or more comorbidities within a Southern state. The methods employed was a concurrent complementary mixed methods study design. First this study analyzed data to better characterize the study population focusing on physical health and mental health concerns. The second portion of this study focused on gathering more in-depth information from study participants. Frailty and quality of life were themes noted in the literature for individuals living with HIV. Scores were obtained using the Frailty Phenotype and the World Health Organization Quality of Life, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) and were addressed using simple quantitate analysis. Qualitative data was gathered using an interactive, visual research methodology called Photovoice. The researcher of this study visited each participant in their home on three different occasions to conduct the first four steps of the Photovoice methodology to better understand their lived experiences. Themes were noted for individuals and across the group of participants regarding this subgroup of individuals who are aging with HIV. Findings of this study provided more insight into this population, allowed for new intervention strategies to be identified, and paved a path for possible future research. Keywords: HIV, aging, homebound, frailty, quality of life, activities of daily living, occupations.
ProQuest ID
Recommended Citation
Cunningham, Anthony Alyn "Deek", "Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Persons Living With Hiv Who Are Homebound Due To One Or More Comorbidities Within A Southern State Using Photovoice" (2025). All ETDs from UAB. 7249.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/7249
