External Factors Associated with Community Cohesion in Women Living with HIV

Abstract

Although community cohesion has been identified as a protective factor associated with positive health outcomes, less is known about factors that increase community cohesion for women living with HIV (WLWH). We examined risk/protective factors associated with community cohesion in WLWH (N 5 56) in the US Mid-South (Mage 5 41.2 years, SD 5 9.01). Participants completed hour-long interviews. Hierarchical linear regression modeling was used to examine factors associated with community cohesion. The final model was significant, F(5, 50) 5 6.42, p, .001, adj. R2 5 33%; greater social support (b 5 .38, p, .01) and resilience (b 5 .27, p, .05) were significantly associated with better community cohesion. Given the protective benefits of community connectedness, findings suggest that nurses and community providers work with WLWH to harness friend- and family-support networks. In addition, strategies to enhance access to resilience resources would enable WLWH to recover from adversity.

Publication Title

Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care

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