Social support and support groups among people with HIV/AIDS in Ghana
ABSTRACT HIV/AIDS, a chronic burden in Ghana, poses social and health outcome concerns to those infected. Examining the Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey (MOS SSS) instrument among 300 Ghanaians from a cross sectional design, Principal Component Analysis yielded four factors (positive interaction, trust building, information giving, and essential support) which accounted for 85.73% of the total variance in the MOS SSS. A logistic regression analysis showed that essential support was the strongest predictor of the length of time an individual stayed in the support group, whereas positive interaction indicated negative association. The study's implications for policy, research, and practice were discussed.
Social work in health care