Summary

We like our project, and we want for you to get interested in it as well.  Below, we present a brief summary of some aspects of this Fulbright supported project:  it's heart, innovative spirit, and legitimacy.

We hope you enjoy it!

Heart

We focus on how different ways of being connected can be important for how we deal with serious illness  

      - Connecting with other people

              - Or, on the other hand, the feeling of loneliness or isolation

      - Connecting with a sense of a higher reality (different for each person),

              - Or the sense that we are alone and can only rely on ourselves or uncaring laws

      - Connecting inside yourself, with all the different parts of your own self

              - Or the feeling that only certain aspects of yourself are acceptable

 The project is friendly to participants

      - It easy and convenient to fill out the (computer, smartphone, or pen-and-paper)

      - Protects the confidentiality of the participants, according to US HHS rules

      - Gives back to the community of participants with information posted on this blog
 It arose from a sincere desire to make things better in HIV

      - Since 1987, HIV has played an important role in shaping the personal lives of       

         project leadership

      - As psychologists and public health specialists we notice with particular acuity

         that many of the biggest issues in HIV these days are psychological and cultural

            - Wellbeing

            - Quality-of-life

            - HIV stigma/discrimination

            - HIV education (or lack of)

            - Protection of self and others

     - We have created careers that let us devote our energy, strength, time, and love to try and help   

        improve the lives of people living with HIV today

Innovative spirit

It is the first study to focus on living with HIV in both the US and Brazil, considering

     - Cultural differences in how people connect (see above)

         - Social connections and friends

         - The different roles of family in a person's life

         - Spirituality/religion

         - Psychological styles (ways of thinking and feeling)

     - A striking epidemiological and historical similarity between the two countries

          (Both countries have provided the anti-HIV cocktail for free since the same year, 1996)

We base our work on psychological theories current in the US and quite new in Brazil:

       - Positive Psychology (Seligman, Frederickson, Neff)

       - Self-Regulation Theory of health and illness (Leventhal, Diefenbach)

We use mixed methods (combining life stories with statistics, phenomenology with hierarchical linear modeling) to understand general trends through the perspectives of real people

  

Legitimacy

The project received modest financial support, which made possible the Brazilian data collection

      - Traditional Fulbright Award (Center for International Exchange of Scholars)

      - Provost's Award (Alliant International University, San Diego, California)

The ethics of our research methods (including confidentiality) have been approved by

      - Institutional Review Board (Alliant International University, San Diego)

         (with delegated authority from the US Department of Health and Human Services)

      - National Commission for Ethics in Research (Brazilian National Health Council)

      - Institute of Social Medicine (Rio de Janeiro State University)