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Biomedical subjects

S M Haas

Publications and source records attributed to S M Haas.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

'In an important way, I did die': uncertainty and revival in persons living with HIV or AIDS.

This study reports the revival experiences of persons who once were reconciled to their death from HIV/AIDS but who, as a result of dramatic treatment responses, now believe they may survive (popularly known as the Lazarus Syndrome). A purposive sample of men and women living with HIV infection or AIDS were interviewed in six focus groups. As part of a larger study of uncertainty in HIV illness, participants described their uncertainty accompanying renewed health and a return to the joys and problems of continued life. While new discoveries about the disease and exciting antiretroviral therapies hold the promise of improved survival, ambiguity about the durability of treatment response and ultimate survival contribute to the level of uncertainty with which a patient must cope. The experience of uncertainty in the narratives about revival involved renegotiation. Participants described physical renewal as an unexpected new stressor forcing them to renegotiate: (a) feelings of hope and future orientation, (b) social roles and identities, (c) interpersonal relations, and (d) the quality of their lives. Implications for prevention, practice, research and theory are presented and suggestions for education and assistance are offered.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1999

The patient self-advocacy scale: measuring patient involvement in health care decision-making interactions.

Despite the fact that many individuals express a desire for more information and involvement in the health care process, it remains to be seen if they have adopted a more participative approach by becoming involved in decisions made about their health. Research indicates that, in actual practice, individuals are differentially willing or able to be active patients. AIDS patient activists are 1 group of individuals who have become more involved in their health care decision making. This study tests the reliability and validity of a measure of patient activism-the Patient Self-Advocacy Scale (PSAS)--designed to assess the dimensions of (a) increased illness and treatment education, (b) increased assertiveness in health care interactions, and (c) increased potential for nonadherence. Tests administered to 2 samples of participants (174 adults from an HIV-AIDS population and 21 8 adults from a general population) demonstrated that the PSAS was a reliable and valid measure of patient involvement in health care decision making.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Uncertainty in illness across the HIV/AIDS trajectory.

Uncertainty is a chronic and pervasive source of psychological distress for persons living with HIV. Numerous sources of heightened uncertainty, including complex changing treatments, ambiguous symptom patterns, and fears of ostracizing social response, play a critical role in the experience of HIV-positive persons and are linked with negative perceptions of quality of life and poor psychological adjustment. Currently, research on uncertainty in HIV fails to explicate the uncertainty experience over time. Because the uncertainty of HIV varies over the course of the illness, an explicit consideration of the sources of uncertainty over the HIV illness trajectory is needed to forecast the informational and stress management needs of persons facing uncertainty about HIV illness. A biopsychosocial model developed to characterize the HIV stigma trajectory provides a useful framework modified to depict uncertainty across the HIV illness experience. Uncertainty in four phases of the HIV illness trajectory are differentiated: (a) at risk, (b) diagnosis, (c) latent, and (d) manifest.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗