Routes to care: the itineraries of people living with HIV

Living with HIV infection is currently chronic but manageable. Therefore, it is important to consider the implications of individual trajectories of seeking care for the disease in the daily life of its carriers. These trajectories are in the routes followed by users seeking answers to their illness. This qualitative study sought to analyze the therapeutic itinerary of people living with HIV/AIDS. The subjects studied were men and women with HIV attended in a Specialized Healthcare unit and the University Hospital, both public services located in a municipality of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The participants were approached through interviews and data were analyzed using the thematic analysis technique. From the individual routes that permeated these narratives, the itineraries of individuals living with HIV emerged. These covered topics such as being sent from place to place and finally discovering how to enter the care system, the implications of cost and access, management of treatment and the importance of affiliation bonds. These questions that oriented the work made it possible to infer the strengths and weaknesses in the healthcare service to the HIV carrier, by considering the personal experience of these individuals.

HIV; Aids; Process of health and disease; Healthcare; Social sciences