Trauma and growth in Canadian carers

The phenomenon of post-traumatic growth has been explored within the context of HIV disease in only a limited fashion. One hundred and seventy-six bereaved HIV/AIDS carers located all over Canada responded to a questionnaire about their experiences; 51.7% of these individuals were male, 46% were female and 2.3% were transgender. The range of deaths experienced was from 0 to 110. Forty-four per cent of the carers were themselves HIV-positive. Of all the HIV carers in this study, 86.4% of them exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite this, 81.8% had scores high enough to be indicative of post-traumatic growth. This study provides a portrait of bereaved HIV carers in Canada and both the positive and negative realities associated with that situation.