"People need to listen to us": Empowering people living with HIV/AIDS through positive prevention.

This thesis research will explore the meanings and experiences of people living with HIV who participate in Positive Prevention (PP), a health promotion and harm reduction program designed to help participants to engage in acquisition of useful knowledge to improve their own capacity to manage HIV-related illness and to adhere to treatment, as well as to enhance community capacity to provide psychosocial support. Participatory Action Research was undertaken in collaboration with research partners at Positive Living North, an AIDS service organization in Prince George, British Columbia. The objective was to hear from people living with HIV and their support providers about how effectively PP meets their needs. Providing people living with HIV a voice will improve our understanding of how ideas of preventive activities are actually received, and whether, and in what ways, quality of life has been improved. --P. ii.