Experience in care, burden, and hope of the family members of HIV patients with and without a history of injecting drug use in Indonesia: An exploratory case

Abstract

Addiction and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients suffer from many medical problems. Family can be a source of stress or relief for the patients. Therefore, we explored and compared the perception of family members of HIV patients with and without a history of injecting drug use (IDU) in Indonesia in the context of: (i) care provided for HIV patients, (ii) harmful impact of the disease for their relatives, and (iii) the hopes of family members concerning the future of their sick relatives. An exploratory case study was conducted with 79 family members: 36 family members of HIV patients with a history of IDU and 43 family members of HIV patients without a history of IDU. They were recruited through consecutive sampling in a HIV clinic in an urban setting in West Java. The Family Contact Information Support scale, the Family Member Impact scale, and the Hopefulness-hopelessness questionnaire were used to interview the family members. Most family members were spouses/partners (30%) or parents (28%). ...