Informal support experiences of older African-American gay men living with HIV/AIDS

In lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) scholarship, there is paucity in empirical literature documenting the specific ways in which HIV-positive African-American gay men and lesbian women seek social support from caregivers, family, friends, and intimate partners. We know minimal information about how older African-American HIV-positive gay men negotiate intersections of race, age, and sexuality to gain access to informal social support. The purpose of this study was to explore and understand the informal social support experiences among African-American gay men that are 50 years old and older living with HIV/AIDS. A qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology data collection process included the in-depth, face-to-face interviews of 12 African-American males, ages 50 and over, diagnosed with HIV/AIDS from agencies that provided services to HIV/AIDS populations. Upon completion of data collection and transcription, the data were extracted, organized, and analyzed. Due to their multiple positions in society, older African-American gay men living with HIV/AIDS had fashioned a fragile system of support captured a loss of informal social support and relied mostly on formal social supports. From a macro implications perspective, interdisciplinary teams can help build an inclusive systematic environment for older African-American gay men living with HIV/AIDS.