Synopses & Reviews
Surviving HIV/AIDS in the Inner City explores the survival strategies of poor, HIV-positive Puerto Rican women by asking four key questions: Given their limited resources, how did they manage an illness as serious as HIV/AIDS? Did they look for alternatives to conventional medical treatment? Did the challenges they faced deprive them of self-determination, or could they help themselves and each other? What can we learn from these resourceful women?
Based on her work with minority women living in Newark, New Jersey, Sabrina Marie Chase illuminates the hidden traps and land mines burdening our current health care system as a whole. For the women she studied, alliances with doctors, nurses, and social workers could literally mean the difference between life and death. By applying the theories of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu to the day-to-day experiences of HIV-positive Latinas, Chase explains why some struggled and even died while others flourished and thrived under difficult conditions. These gripping, true-life stories advocate for those living with chronic illness who depend on the health care "safety net." Through her exploration of life and death among Newark's resourceful women, Chase provides the groundwork for inciting positive change in the U.S. health care system.
Review
andquot;In this original and interdisciplinary book, Chase illuminates the unequal treatment faced by the Puerto Rican women she studied and creates compassion for the hardships that they faced.andquot;
Review
andquot;Medical anthropologist Sabrina Marie Chase offers a rich account of HIV-positive Puerto Rican women's experiences. Poor HIV-positive women must be resourceful to survive. We learn from their brave efforts how our current healthcare system and related social services fail vulnerable people living with HIV/AIDS, especially marginalized women of color.andquot;
Review
andquot;The South has been the epicenter of the U.S. HIV epidemic for the last decade, and the authors have used a balanced set of information from both surveys and personal observations to present a poignant and accessible portrait of the complexities of human health and disease.andquot;
Review
andquot;Expertly linking patientsandrsquo; pasts to their current struggles to obtain health care and support, the stories related here contextualize AIDS within the lived experiences of the poor and marginalized communities that bear the greatest burden of HIV in the American South. This book offers indispensable insight into the ways that large-scale socialand#160;forces shape the lives of those facing AIDS.andquot;
Synopsis
Surviving HIV/AIDS in the Inner City explores the survival strategies of poor, HIV-positive Puerto Rican women by asking four key questions: Given their limited resources, how did they manage an illness as serious as HIV/AIDS? Did they look for alternatives to conventional medical treatment? Did the challenges they faced deprive them of self-determination, or could they help themselves and each other? What can we learn from these resourceful women? Through an exploration of life and death among these resourceful women, the book provides the groundwork for inciting positive change in the U.S. health care system.
Synopsis
This extensively revised second edition presents twenty-five different case studies and incorporates research from the authorsandrsquo; recent quantitative study, andldquo;Coping with HIV/AIDS in the Southeastandrdquo; (CHASE). CHASE includes 611 HIV-positive patients from eight clinics in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana. This is the first cohesive compilation of up-to-date evidence on the unique and difficult aspects of those living with HIV in the Deep South.
About the Author
KATHRYN WHETTEN, MPH, PhD, is a professor of public policy and global health at Duke University and the director of the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research. She is the author of Drinkers, Drivers, and Bartenders: Balancing Private Choice and Public Accountability.
BRIAN W. PENCE, MPH, PhD, is an associate professor of community and family medicine and global health at Duke Universityandrsquo;s Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research.
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgments
1. Setting the Stage
2. Voices of the Past
3. Enter HIV
4. Abuse, Trauma, and HIV
5. Distrust, Conspiracy, Confidentiality, and Provider Relationships
6. Benefit Systems
7. The Importance of Children
8. Sex, Love, Family, and Other Support
9. Theoretical Framework
10. The Future
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Read by Interviewer to Respondent
References
Index