Culture, Health and Sexuality
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2014, Pages 820-834

Migration and HIV risk: Life histories of Mexican-born men living with HIV in North Carolina (Article)

Mann L.* , Valera E. , Hightow-Weidman L.B. , Barrington C.
  • a Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, United States
  • b Latino Commission on AIDS, New York, United States
  • c Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States
  • d Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States

Abstract

Latino men in the Southeastern USA are disproportionately affected by HIV, but little is known about how the migration process influences HIV-related risk. In North Carolina, a relatively new immigrant destination, Latino men are predominantly young and from Mexico. We conducted 31 iterative life history interviews with 15 Mexican-born men living with HIV. We used holistic content narrative analysis methods to examine HIV vulnerability in the context of migration and to identify important turning points. Major themes included the prominence of traumatic early-life experiences, migration as an ongoing process rather than a finite event, and HIV diagnosis as a final turning point in migration trajectories. Findings provide a nuanced understanding of HIV vulnerability throughout the migration process and have implications including the need for bi-national HIV-prevention approaches, improved outreach around early testing and linkage to care, and attention to mental health. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

Author Keywords

HIV prevention narrative analysis life history migrant men USA

Index Keywords

North Carolina male statistics and numerical data risk factor Risk Factors Emigration and Immigration HIV Infections Humans ethnology Mexico Mexican American Mexican Americans middle aged United States Young Adult human adult migration
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84904381354&doi=10.1080%2f13691058.2014.918282&partnerID=40&md5=813a40abad3177ebd6390e318deb931f
DOI: 10.1080/13691058.2014.918282
ISSN: 13691058
Cited by: 4
Original Language: English