ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the women's perceptions by reporting both qualitative and quantitative data from incarcerated female patients, some of which have received an HIV-positive diagnosis while incarcerated. Others received their diagnosis prior to their incarceration. Specifically, the chapter examines these patient's communication needs and the factors corresponding with negative versus positive experiences associated with their HIV-positive diagnosis. It provides awareness and information that will help health care professionals to avoid the insensitive and inadequate interaction which often proves to be distressing for both patients and health care professionals. A diagnosis of HIV is devastating to the patient because of its association with death. AIDS is much more than a biomedical phenomenon; it is a socially constructed phenomenon as well. Persons with AIDS are stigmatized by this association with death, and are additionally stigmatized because of perceptions regarding intravenous (IV) drug use, prostitution, or homosexuality.
