Experiences of the formal support systems living positive in regional Queensland, Australia

Katarzyna (Kasia) Bolsewicz (University of Queensland)

There is an increasing shift towards the biomedical in the prevention, treatment and care in HIV and a normalisation of HIV as a chronic illness. The normalisation of HIV is predicated on biomedical treatment messages being acted upon by people living with HIV, often abstracted from the specifities and complexities of living with and negotiating HIV in everyday life. In the Australian Research Council Linkage Project Living Positive in Queensland: A qualitative longitudinal study of aging, place and social isolation, we are utilising qualitative longitudinal research and visual methods with 72 participants over the age of 35 who are living in rural and regional Queensland, with the aim of moving alongside them to examine their experiences of aging and social isolation. We are also examining how people who have lived with HIV long term grapple with (changing) policies and the dismantling of psychosocial service provision.

This presentation will discuss findings from the first 18 months of data collection and will focus on how the global and local policy and social changes have been experienced by the participants in terms of a sense of support and well-being, and how these men and women continue to adapt. A history case study of one of the participants will be presented to illustrate this in-depth.