Browsing by Author "Scholten, Francien"
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Item Despondency Among HIV-Positive Older Men and Women in Uganda(Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 2012) Wright, Stuart; Zalwango, Flavia; Seeley, Janet; Mugisha, Joseph; Scholten, FrancienForty people over 60 years of age took part in longitudinal research over the course of a year on the impact of the HIVepidemic in southern Uganda. In this paper we focus mainly on the data from 26 of the 40 who were HIV-positive. While we observed that feelings of depression were frequently experienced by many of the people in our study, the state of ‘being depressed’ was not constant. Participants regularly expressed economic frustration (because of a lack of money to buy food and other commodities including sugar and soap); medical problems (including those related to HIV) as well as old age, the burden of dependents (including concerns about school fees for grandchildren), feelings of sadness and isolation, and a lack of support from others, as well as stigma, whether real or perceived. However, while worries, sorrow and despondent thoughts were reported in many of the interviews across the study, moods fluctuated moving from happiness and hope, to sadness and despair, from month to month. Concerns regarding the psychological wellbeing amongst older people, including those living with HIVand older carers in Uganda deserve greater attentionItem Neglected older women and men: Exploring age and gender as structural drivers of HIV among people aged over 60 in Uganda(African Journal of AIDS Research, 2013) Richards, Esther; Zalwango, Flavia; Seeley, Janet; Scholten, Francien; Theobald, Sally.This study explored how women’s and men’s gendered experiences from childhood to old age have shaped their vulnerability in relation to HIV both in terms of their individual risk of HIV and their access to and experiences of HIV services. It was a small scale-scale study conducted in urban and rural sites in Uganda between October 2011 and March 2012. The study used qualitative methods: in-depth interviews (with 31 participants) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with older women (2) and men (2) in urban and rural sites and 7 key informant interviews (KIIs) with stakeholders from government and non-government agencies working on HIV issues. Women’s position, the cultural management of sex and gender and contextual stigma related to HIV and to old age inter-relate to produce particular areas of vulnerability to the HIV epidemic among older women and men. Women report the compounding factor of gender-based violence marking many of their sexual relationships throughout their lives, including in older age. Both women and men report extremely fragile livelihoods in their old age. Older people are exposed to HIV through multiple and intersecting drivers of risk and represent an often neglected population within health systems. Research and interventions need to go beyond only conceptualising older people as ‘carers’ to better address their gendered vulnerabilities to HIV in relation to all aspects of policy and programming.