A phenomenological investigation of personal relationships with persons with AIDS

The spread of the AIDS epidemic has brought with it an ever­ increasing need for psychological research, addressing not only the issues of persons with AIDS (PWAs), but also the issues of others whose lives are affected by PWAs as well. Through phenomenological interviews, fifteen volunteers from the Buddy program of AIDS Response Knoxville described their experiences of personal relationships with PWAs. Transcribed interview protocols were analyzed by a phenomenological research team. Existential meaning units were extracted from each transcript and divided into clusters representing common points. From these clusters, general themes were derived which depicted the essence of the phenomenon in question.

The three themes which emerged from the transcripts were Impact, characterizing the perceived influence between PWAs and others, Roles, illustrating the perceived identities of PWAs and others in interpersonal relationships with them, and Boundaries, representing the perceived closeness or distance between PWAs and others. These three themes related directly to and comprised the overall experience of relationships with others. The themes emerged against the ground of time in each interview. Each theme was present in every interview.

Results are discussed in terms of current psychosocial issues surrounding the AIDS epidemic, and the relationship of these issues to the lives of those involved with PWAs, and PWAs themselves. The relationships of the findings to psychological and existential theory and another study examining the experience of other people are also examined. Finally, the implications for therapists working with the significant others of PWAs are addressed.