Helping others: a response to HIV disease

Previous research supports that helping behaviors can be as beneficial to the person providing the help as to the recipient. Ten individuals infected with HIV describe how helping others became an important strategy in helping them live with their diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. A grounded theory study was done to identify and describe psychosocial responses to being infected with HIV. Audiotaped interviews were analyzed using grounded theory methodologies. The core category that emerged from the data was fighting to survive. Taking care and restructuring one's life were the supporting concepts. Processes involved in taking care were everyday work and illness work. Helping others was one strategy of everyday work the participants found to be helpful in the fight to survive. The benefits of helping are described and the various ways of helping are presented in this article.