Disclosure of Parental HIV Status to Children: Experiences of Adults Receiving Antiretroviral Treatment at an Urban Clinic in Kampala, Uganda

Table 3

Motivators to disclosure, as presented by parents who disclosed their HIV status to their children.

Theme	Subthemes
Obligation of disclosure	(i) Parent wanting to clarify their HIV-positive status to the children.; (ii) Desire to prepare the children so that death of the parent would not come as a shock.; (iii) Parents’ desire to confirm what the children had earlier suspected that the parent might be HIV-positive.
Clarification or “clearing the air” about the parent’s HIV status	(i) Desire to clarify the “suspicious medicines” (antiretroviral drugs) that the children had already seen the parent taking.; (ii) Clarifying to the children about monthly hospital appointments.
Need to protect children	(i) Parents chose to disclose their HIV status as a way of warning them that higher-risk sexual behaviour could lead to contracting HIV.; (ii) Desire to show children that HIV can “kill” or is “very painful” or that it is not pleasant to take medicines every day.
Improved health	(i) Parents disclosed their HIV status after noticing an improvement in their health.