Abstract

MOREIRA, Virginia; MESQUITA, Sâmia  and  MELO, Anna Karynne. The experience of hospitalization lived by patients with AIDS. Bol. psicol [online]. 2010, vol.60, n.133, pp.153-166. ISSN 0006-5943.

This article describes a study that aimed to understand the experience of hospitalization of patients with AIDS, through a qualitative research using the critical phenomenological method. Seven HIV positive subjects from Fortaleza, who had lived the experience of hospitalization due to their illness, participated in the research. The results showed that the experience of hospitalization forces the patient to face the prospect of death; the hospital routine causes suffering for some, depending on their living conditions, such as economic deprivation. Coping with diagnosis is faced different ways; the isolation due to the hospitalization is always experienced, as well as the support of the family in the hospital.

Keywords : AIDS/HIV; Hospitalization; Lived experience; Phenomenology.

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