HIV Status Disclosure in the Workplace: Positive and Stigmatizing Experiences of Health Care Workers Living with HIV.

We explored workplace experiences of 10 health care providers with HIV in the Netherlands. We used semi-structured interviews to discuss motivations for disclosure and concealment, reactions to disclosures, the impact of reactions, and coping with negative reactions. Reasons for disclosure were wanting to share the secret, expecting positive responses, observing positive reactions to others, wanting to prevent negative reactions, and being advised to disclose.

Disclosure of HIV Status to Health Care Providers in the Netherlands: A Qualitative Study.

We qualitatively investigated perspectives on HIV disclosure to health care providers (HCP) by people living with HIV (PLWH). Perspectives varied across PLWH and between PLWH and HCP. Some PLWH felt they should always disclose so that HCP could take necessary precautions or because disclosure optimized care.

Prevalence and determinants of insufficient work ability in older HIV-positive and HIV-negative workers.

Purpose: To explore whether the prevalence and determinants of insufficient work ability (WA) of older HIV-positive workers differ from a comparable group of HIV-negative workers.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from 359 HIV-negative and 264 HIV-positive middle-aged individuals (45-65 years) participating in paid labor, collected within the AGEhIV Cohort Study between October 2010-September 2012, were selected. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaires and physical examination.

Patient and provider perspectives on HIV and HIV-related stigma in Dutch health care settings.

Ensuring that people living with HIV (PLWH) feel accepted in health care settings is imperative. This mixed methods study explored the perspectives of PLWH and health professionals on their interactions. A total of 262 predominantly gay men of Dutch origin participated in a survey study of possible negative interactions with health professionals, and semi-structured interviews were subsequently conducted with 22 PLWH and 14 health professionals.

Psychological and social correlates of HIV status disclosure: the significance of stigma visibility.

HIV-related stigma, psychological distress, self-esteem, and social support were investigated in a sample comprising people who have concealed their HIV status to all but a selected few (limited disclosers), people who could conceal but chose to be open (full disclosers), and people who had visible symptoms that made concealing difficult (visibly stigmatized). The visibly stigmatized and full disclosers reported significantly more stigma experiences than limited disclosers, but only the visibly stigmatized reported more psychological distress, lower self-esteem, and less social support than limited disclosers. This suggests that having a visible stigma is more detrimental than having a concealable stigma.

New ILO standard on HIV rejects discrimination against HIV-positive workers.

2010 saw a significant development in advocating for enhanced rights protection of HIV-positive workers: the adoption of an International Labour Organisation (ILO) recommendation on HIV/AIDS in the employment sphere. In this article, based on a presentation made at AIDS 2010, Ronald Brands outlines the key components of the document and how it seeks to protect employees and job-seekers from discrimination on the grounds of real or perceived HIV status.