To a Better Understanding of Professional Practice: Provider Decision-Making When Delivering HIV Services

Abstract

Over the last several decades an abundance of research has been conducted on HIV/AIDS. These studies have focused on the infection, impact of the disease on the health and quality of life of people living with the infection, and on treatment effectiveness. However, limited studies are available that explore the experiences of providers delivering HIV/AIDS services. Research demonstrates that providers have an important impact on treatment, shaping not only patient retention, but also treatment adherence. The critical role HIV/AIDS providers have in shaping treatment makes understanding provider experiences a pertinent area of inquiry to understand HIV/AIDS care. In this study, an analytic autoethnography was performed to acquire an understanding of provider experience working in an HIV/AIDS treatment milieu. A reflexive research treatment practice was used to write about experiences as a provider, and processed in context of the limited available literature. In doing so, a number of institutional, professional-contextual, client, and provider level factors were identified as shaping professional practice. The findings of this study provide insight into the intuitional, relational, and contextual factors shaping HIV/AIDS care. The findings validate the importance of researching HIV/AIDS provider experiences, and punctuates the necessity of continued research in this area