Balancing between normality and social death: Black, rural, South African women coping with HIV/AIDS

The millions of people living with HIV/AIDS are in urgent need of effective care and support interventions. Such interventions should take people's reported needs, coping strategies, and context into account. Usually, active problem-focused coping strategies have been encouraged because they are considered to be more beneficial than passive emotion-focused strategies. However, this may not be the case in the South African context. This study was based on in-depth interviews with Black, rural, South African women about their coping strategies. The overriding aim of coping was to solve the tasks of physical, psychological, and social survival. Strategies involving avoidance of, escaping from, or minimizing HIV/AIDS and its accompanying emotional distress were predominant. We argue that such strategies could be adaptive in a society with scarce resources and marked by gender inequalities. Our findings suggest that care and support interventions should be sensitive to culture and context, should be holistic and participatory, and should include income generation and child care services.