Factors motivating PLWHVA to disclose status to sexual partners: A scoping review

Abstract Background Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a public health problem that has destroyed the lives of many people worldwide. As it continues to spread, disclosure of HIV status is fundamental to mitigate the spread of virus, expedite various types of support and improve and well-being of people living with HIV (PLWHVA). Disclosure is a process that takes place without coercion, as PLWHVA should do it voluntarily. Various people are disclosing their HIV statuses to their partners for different reasons. Literature revealed the most of PLWHVA disclosed their HIV statuses to their partners in Sub-Sahara Africa. Methods This paper adopted a scoping literature review to achieve the objectives. The following five steps of scoping literature review were the blueprint to guide this paper, namely identifying the research question, identifying the relevant studies, selecting studies, charting data, and finally collating, summarising and reporting the results. Results Two themes and six sub-themes emerged from this review. The first theme was facilitation of support and sub-themes were partner support, emotional support, social support, and financial support. The second theme that emerged from this review was health promotion, and sub-themes were protecting loved ones from being infected and enhances medication adherence. Conclusion The PLWHVA disclosed their HIV statuses for partners to support them through the entire journey of the illness. The support received from the partners included financial support to enable them to travel to the respective facilities to collect medication. In addition, they needed social and emotional support during difficult times.