Spirituality as a Life Line: Women Living With HIV/AIDS and the Role of Spirituality in Their Support System

Abstract

For many women living with HIV/AIDS, incorporating spirituality into their lives helps them organize their experience, empower self-reconstruction, and manage stigma. (Stanley, 1999). Because of the potential relationship of spirituality and social support, the specific aim of this study is to examine the role of spirituality in the support experiences of women living with HIV or AIDS. In this case, spirituality or a connection to God, offered the women an opportunity to develop meaning and perspective taking, to have a source of support, to provide control through a more powerful being, and to offer a path to community.