Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr 26:69:1606333.
doi: 10.3389/ijph.2024.1606333. eCollection 2024.

Navigating HIV-Related Stigma in Switzerland: A Qualitative Study

Ingrid Gilles  1 , David Jackson-Perry  1 , Clara Le Saux  2 , Chiara Storari  2 , Ellen Cart-Richter #  2   3 , Oriana Keserue Pittet #  2 , Katharine E A Darling #  1
Affiliations

Navigating HIV-Related Stigma in Switzerland: A Qualitative Study

Ingrid Gilles et al. Int J Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study sought to understand how people living with HIV experience, perceive, and navigate stigma in their everyday life and in care settings in an urban French-speaking area in Switzerland. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 19 people living with HIV in Lausanne concerning their experience of HIV-related stigma in both everyday life and in healthcare settings. Content analysis was performed to identify main and sub-themes. Results: "Living with HIV" posed little or no difficulty for participants. However, the burden of anticipated and internalized HIV-related stigma played a disproportionately large role in their lives. Participants considered the general population's low level of knowledge about HIV as problematic in this regard. While participants reported few examples of enacted stigma generally, healthcare environments were sometimes experienced as sites of prejudice and discrimination. However, some healthcare professionals were also sources of information and knowledge, contributing to participants' "journeys of self-acceptance." Conclusion: Even in an urban environment in a country with ready access to healthcare and education, HIV-related stigma remains a concern for people living with HIV.

Keywords: HIV-related stigma; Switzerland; disclosure; knowledge; qualitative methods.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

KD’s institution received research and travel grants from Gilead, Sciences and consultation fees from MSD. DJ-P’s institution received sponsoring from MSD, Viiv and Gilead for a range of initiatives seeking to improve the quality of life for people living with HIV. This study received a grant from the Gilead Sciences (ID-Number: 14016). The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Themes, subthemes, typical excerpts from the content analysis. Percentages correspond to the proportion of text included in each subtheme. *Epistemic: relating to knowledge or to the degree of its validation. (Navigating HIV-related stigma in Switzerland: a qualitative study. Switzerland 2022).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Deeks SG, Lewin SR, Havlir DV. The End of AIDS: HIV Infection as a Chronic Disease. Lancet (2013) 382(9903):1525–33. 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61809-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Øgård-Repål A, Berg RC, Fossum M. Peer Support in an Outpatient Clinic for People Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Qualitative Study of Service Users Experiences. BMC Health Serv Res (2022) 22:549. 10.1186/s12913-022-07958-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. United Nations. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015). Available from: https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/publications/21252030%20Agenda%2... (Accessed March 17, 2024).
    1. Goffman E. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity New York: Touchstone; (1986). p. 168.
    1. Chambers LA, Rueda S, Baker DN, Wilson MG, Deutsch R, Raeifar E, et al. Stigma, HIV and Health: A Qualitative Synthesis. BMC public health (2015) 15:848–7. 10.1186/s12889-015-2197-0 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types