Family Voices Beyond the Couples: A Qualitative Inquiry into Support for HIV-Serodiscordant Partnerships

Abstract

HIV/AIDS is often referred to as a family disease, as the diagnosis of one member can significantly impact the entire family. In HIV-serodiscordant couples where one partner is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative familial psychosocial support becomes crucial, with important implications for HIV interventions and programming. This study employed an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) design to explore the support for HIV-serodiscordant partnership. Data were collected through unstructured, face-to-face interviews with eight participants using a snowball sampling technique and were analysed using the IPA framework. Findings revealed that many family members initially experienced disbelief and had limited knowledge about HIV-serodiscordancy. However, following disclosure by the couples, families were able to provide meaningful psychosocial support, such as encouraging attendance at medical consultations, promoting medication adherence, and supporting healthy lifestyles. Family members also played a key role in disseminating HIV-related knowledge within the family, and offered emotional and financial support, thereby strengthening familial relationships. The study highlights the need for greater family-focused interventions, education, and public awareness campaigns to improve understanding of HIV-serodiscordancy. Relying solely on the perspectives of serodiscordant couples in intervention planning risks overlooking critical challenges faced by their families. Policymakers and health stakeholders should consider these findings when developing strategies to address knowledge gaps and reinforce the role of family-based psychosocial support in managing HIV within serodiscordant partnerships.