Presentation Abstract

Barriers Reduction among Women with HIV. C. Hughes, L. Melchior, V. Brown, G. Huba

Introduction: Women living with HIV often encounter a number of barriers when seeking care for themselves and their families. Factors such as lack of transportation, not knowing what services exist, fearing that there would be a long wait for services, or that services cost too much may prevent women from obtaining needed care for HIV and other related issues.

Project Description: To examine the nature of such obstacles, women in a settlement house program for women living with HIV were assessed as to the nature of the barriers they had encountered in seeking services. The barriers assessment was conducted upon entry into the program, as well as in follow-up "sweeps" every three months.

Results: Among a sample of 154 women with HIV, barriers identified to obtaining HIV services included fear of losing custody of a child (due to disclosure of the woman's HIV status), concern that the service providers do not speak the same Ianguage as the woman, problems in communication, worry that family or friends would be against the services, difficulty in making and keeping appointments, not knowing that services exist, having to wait too long, perceiving that the services cost too much to afford, believing that the woman would not be eligible to receive services, or worrying that the service providers would discriminate against the woman. Over a six month period, the average total number of barriers decreased from 9.1 to 6.8.

Implications: Services for women living with HIV should attempt to reduce the barriers to potential recipients of those services. As services for women with HIV are designed and refined, programs should assess whether such barriers can be reduced, and efforts should be taken to make it easier for women with HIV to receive needed care.

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