Myths about HIV and AIDS among serodiscordant couples in Malawi
| Published date | 15 May 2017 |
| Date | 15 May 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-12-2016-0202 |
| Pages | 278-293 |
| Author | Kondwani Wella,Sheila Webber,Philippa Levy |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management |
Myths about HIV and AIDS among
serodiscordant couples in Malawi
Kondwani Wella
College of Nursing, University of Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi
Sheila Webber
Information School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, and
Philippa Levy
The Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), University of Adelaide,
Adelaide, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to report on research that uncovered myths about HIV and AIDS held
by serodiscordant couples in Malawi, and the sources of these myths. The paper reflects on how the myths
affect serodiscordant couples’engagement with HIV and AIDS information.
Design/methodology/approach –Van Manen’s (1997) approach to analysis of phenomenological data was
used to analyse data from in-depth interviews conducted in Malawi with 21 serodiscordant couples and three
individuals who had separated from their partners because of serodiscordance.
Findings –Serodiscordant couples in Malawi believe and hold on to some inaccurate HIV and AIDS information
that can be seen as “myths”. Some of these myths are perpetuated by official HIV and AIDS information when it is
translated into the local languages. Other myths derive from social norms of the societies where the couples live.
Practical implications –The findings of this paper have practical implications for how HIV and AIDS
information providers should engage with target audiences to understand the origins of the myths they hold.
The findings also imply that some myths have technical, religious, moral and cultural bases which need to be
addressed before challenging the myth itself.
Originality/value –Using real-life descriptions of experiences of HIV and AIDS information provided by
serodiscordant couples, the authors reveal how myths can affect engagement with the information.
The authors make recommendations on how to address myths in ways that contribute to a positive
experience of HIV and AIDS information by serodiscordant couples.
Keywords HIV, Malawi, AIDS, Couples, Myths, Serodiscordance
Paper type Research paper
Introduction and background
This paper is based on a PhD project investigating how serodiscordant couples experience
HIV and AIDS information in Malawi. A serodiscordant couple is a couple in which one
partner is HIV positive and the other is HIV negative (World Health Organisation, 2012).
One of the important findings of the study was that serodiscordant couples believed some
myths about HIV and AIDS, which we argue negatively affected the intended outcomes of
information campaigns. This paper presents myths identified in this study and discusses the
implications for the effectiveness of HIV and AIDS information for serodiscordant couples.
As Hammer and Elby (2002)argue, people have different ways of acquiringknowledge about
phenomena. However, it seems likely that no one would deliberately set out to acquire false
beliefs about phenomena in their environment(Kaphagawani and Malherbe,1989). Jaja (2014)
contends that people naturally cannot bear to have unanswered questions, and that as such,
formulate answersthat turn out to be mythical. Dickinson (2014) identifies that these answers
may draw on deepl y held beliefs and have more plau sibility than scientific explana tions.
The concept of “myth”
The word “myth”is rich in meaning, and can be interpreted in culturally resonant or in
negative ways.For example, the Oxford English Dictionary defines mythfirst as “a traditional
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 69 No. 3, 2017
pp. 278-293
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-12-2016-0202
Received 7 December 2016
Revised 5 April 2017
Accepted 11 April 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2050-3806.htm
278
AJIM
69,3
story, typically involving supernatural beings or forces, which embodies and provides an
explanation, aetiology, or justification for something such as the early history of a society, a
religious belief or ritual, or a natural phenomenon”(Oxford University Press, 201 5).
However, it also defines it as “a widespread but untrue or erroneous story or belief;
a widely held misconception; a misrepresentation of the truth”. As will be identified, this
coupling of the words “myth”and “misconception”occurs in the healthcare literature.
Misconception is in turn defined as “a view or opinion that is false or inaccurate because
based on faulty thinking or understanding”(Oxford University Press, 2015), c learly
positioningthe problem as cognitive,and residing with the personwho has the misconception.
For example, Picouet al. (2011), writing about HIV in the Caribbean,define myths as ideas or
explanations that are widely believed to be true but which are, in fact, untrue and based on
ignorance about the subject.
The word “myth”has been used in the medical and healthcare literature frequently, but
often without clear definition or discrimination from cognate terms. However, different
usages of the term can be identified. Casazza et al. (2013, p. 448), writing about obesity,
usefully distinguish between myths (“beliefs held true despite substantial evidence refuting
them”), presumptions (for which there is not yet firm evidence) and facts (for which there is
high quality research evidence). Similarly Harrison (2008), whilst not defining
myth explicitly, frames myths as being such because there is substantial evidence that
can refute them. As already noted, the word “misconception”is often linked to “myth”.
Ramos Salas et al. (2014), in their study of obesity myths, simply define a myth as a
misconception. In some cases the words “myth”and “misconception”or “misperception”are
introduced and then implicitly treated as synonyms. An example is Cagle et al. (2016) who
test citizens’knowledge of hospice care, and then use the words “myth”and “misperception”
interchangeably when discussing results.
In contrast, the philosopher Midgley (2003, p. 2) defines myths as “imaginative patterns,
networks of powerful symbols that suggest particular ways of interpreting the world”.
This interpretation differs epistemologically, situating the myth (including healthcare myth)
in a cultural or spiritual context, which is subject to interpretation, rather than proof. Indeed
Midgley (2003) proposes scientific certainty as a possible contemporary myth itself.
Discussions of myths specifically concerning HIV/AIDS normally associate them with
misconceptions and ignorance of scientific evidence. For example, Kang ’ethe and
Xabendlini (2014, p. 56) refer to “Misinformation, misinterpretation, misperceptions and
myths”(without distinguishing between them). However, they also refer to myths as “stories
that in absence of a scientific explanation try to explain some of the mysteries of life. These
stories can be a recipe of half-truths, mistruths, misinformation, or stereotypes”(2014, p. 56).
They explicitly link myths concerning HIV/AIDs with stigma, cultural beliefs and traditions
in African countries: a link that is not so commonly made in literature about the western
healthcare context. Thus myths are positioned as “networks of powerful symbols that
suggest particular ways of interpreting the world”(as in Midgley’s definition) but with
negative, rather than creative, associations.
Myths about living with HIV
Living with HIV is an experience that involves making decisions that can make a difference
between life and death (Minion, 2010; Namuleme, 2013). This is even more critical for
partners in serodiscordant couples. HIV and AIDS information is complex, and there are
many information sources available to serodiscordant couples. Not all sources of HIV and
AIDS information provide correct and up-to-date information. Therefore, serodiscordant
couples need to identify trusted sources of HIV and AIDS information.
Most people in Sub-Saharan Africa have heard about HIV and AIDS. For example, in
Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, HIV and AIDS awareness has been described as
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Myths about
HIV and AIDS
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