The Felt Experience of HIV Nondisclosure

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to examine how people living with HIV/AIDS and people who are HIV negative feel about HIV nondisclosure in order to better understand the criminalization of HIV nondisclosure in Canada.

I am interested in:

1. Feelings about being diagnosed and living with HIV

2. Feelings related to experiences of a partner not disclosing their HIV status prior to sex

3. Feelings about nondisclosure and disclosure generally and,

4. How people respond to HIV nondisclosure

Project Description

The research project was approved by the University of Ottawa Research Ethics Board.

Participants took part in one interview and a creative activity and debrief session if they chose to do so. The interview involved answering a few open-ended questions about their experiences living with HIV and experiencing nondisclosure.

For the creative activity, participants were asked to draw a lifeline or a visual depiction of their life events as they related to their HIV diagnosis and the context within which they became HIV positive. For people who are HIV negative, they were asked to draw a lifeline that depicted their nondisclosure story and how it has or hasn’t affected their sense of self. This aspect of the project is meant to be fun, creative, and an opportunity for participants to express their thoughts, emotions, feelings, and experiences through art!

For the debrief session, we met again to discuss their lifeline drawings and the feelings and emotions they had while making the drawing.