Abstract

FINKLER, Lirene; OLIVEIRA, Manoela Ziebell de  and  GOMES, William B.. HIV/AIDS and preventive practices for heterosexual couples. Aletheia [online]. 2004, n.20, pp. 09-25. ISSN 1413-0394.

The study describes and analyses preventive practices adopted by 15 heterosexual stable couples before and after voluntary HIV testing, at a public health service. The effects of simultaneous testing on practices and patterns on safer sex were evaluated by a semi-structured interview. The qualitative analysis was based in the literal transcriptions of daily episodes about values and negotiations on preventive practices, as indicated by the interviewed couples. Findings suggest that even sorodiscordant couples denied or minimized the infection risks because of difficulties with sexuality or genre behavior patterns communication: men expose themselves to the risk by trying to reaffirm their masculinity; women abdicate prevention in order to keep the relationship. The study proposes the use of intervention with both men and women, taking into account relationship dynamics and communication patterns needed to maintain preventive behavior.

Keywords : HIV/AIDS; Couples; Prevention; Sexual behavior.

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