愛滋感染者深受社會烙印且處於社會邊緣,在面對自身權益遭受侵犯時,往往難以看到該人口群為自己或社群發聲與行動;因此,本研究希冀瞭解愛滋感染者的權能及可能的影響因素,藉此激發感染者的權能。本研究採問卷調查法,以臺灣目前的愛滋感染者為主要對象,抽樣方法為立意抽樣,共回收379份有效問卷。研究中檢驗的預測因子為生活滿意度、愛滋內在烙印、參與類型、愛滋知識與服藥狀況,並經由雙變項分析和多元迴歸分析檢驗整體模式對權能的解釋力。愛滋感染者整體權能分布在常模中下區間,社會政治權能最高,但實踐權能的參與行動卻偏低;分析感染者次團體的差異檢定時,性別與環境變項在藥癮愛滋感染者中達顯著。另一方面,迴歸分析顯示整體模式解釋36%的變異量,生活滿意度、社區代表參與、愛滋知識與服藥順從度為顯著的影響因素。次團體的分析中發現,愛滋內在烙印在同性間性行為愛滋感染者中為顯著的解釋變項,但在藥癮感染者中並沒有達到統計上的顯著。依據研究結果,建議未來實務與政策投入相關資源探討並促進愛滋感染者生活滿意度和社區代表參與以激發其權能。
People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are marginalized because of the social stigma for HIV. However, these people seldom speak for themselves or fight for their rights. Thus, this study aims to explore the factors correlated with empowerment in PLWHA.Participants recruited through purposive sampling in all areas in Taiwan, filled out the standard questionnaire to reveal their empowerment scores. The variables associated with empowerment included life satisfaction, HIV internal stigma, types of participation, HIV/AIDS knowledge, medication and demographic data. To test the explanatory power of our model, bivariable and multiple regression analyses were performed. Participants were further classified as intravenous drug users (IDU) or homosexuals.A total of 379 non-repetitive questionnaires were completed. According to statistical analyses, the mean score of empowerment was low. Among all participants, the score was higher on the social-political dimension than on personal and interpersonal ones. Empowerment scores differed by gender and environment variables only for IDU but not for homosexuals. Regression ana-lyses revealed life satisfaction, participation as community representative for residents, HIV/AIDS knowledge and medication compliance were independent factors affecting higher empowerment scores. Our model accounted for 36% of the variance for these variables. For homosexuals but not IDUs, internal HIV stigma was significant in regression analyses.In conclusion, addressing the independent factors in PLWHA and reducing the internal HIV stigma for homosexuals may help to empower PLWHA.