Understanding Chaotic Life Circumstances and Resilience
The CHAOS initiative explores how unpredictable and destabilizing life events affect the health and wellbeing of people living with HIV.
Research in Malawi has revealed how overlapping factors—such as extreme poverty, climate-related disasters, unplanned mobility, sudden social obligations, and fragile health systems—create conditions where maintaining consistent treatment becomes nearly impossible.
CHAOS Reframes the Conversation
By combining rigorous research with artistic collaboration, CHAOS seeks to identify structural barriers, highlight resilience strategies, and inspire new approaches for global health programs.
What We’re Doing
The CHAOS initiative combines rigorous evidence with creative collaboration, documenting how chaotic events impact health and turning those insights into practical tools for care and advocacy.
Generating Evidence
Putting Evidence into Practice
Why Malawi?
Located in southeastern Africa, Malawi has been the initial focus of our research.
How We Got Here
The CHAOS initiative grew organically out of Malawian communities’ lived experiences, using a method which scientists call grounded theory.
Grounded Theory
Over a five-year period, we conducted in-depth interviews focused on barriers to HIV care. Over and over, community members told us about the unpredictable and uncontrollable events that affected their lives.
Chaos in the Health Literature
We then explored chaos as a measurable construct within global health literature, clarifying its impact on treatment adherence and wellbeing.
Pilot Results:
CHAOS in Malawi
Our results show clear patterns in how chaotic events shape HIV care, and how communities respond with resilience. Below, we highlight data that illustrates both.
Key Findings
Our results show clear patterns in how chaotic events shape HIV care and resilience. Below, we highlight data that illustrates both the barriers communities face and the strategies they employ to adapt.
Stories of CHAOS
By centering lived experiences, the CHAOS initiative reveals both the unpredictable life circumstances and the resilience strategies that emerge in response.
Next Steps
The CHAOS initiative is expanding its research, deepening community collaborations, and creating advocacy tools that can be adapted across countries and contexts.
Theory Development
Artistic Advocacy
Organizational Partners
Our partners bring expertise in research, healthcare, and community engagement, making it possible to document chaos, amplify resilience, and translate evidence into action.
Team
The CHAOS initiative is guided by a diverse team of researchers, clinicians, artists, and community leaders who work together to bridge evidence and lived experience.
Contact
To get in touch with us, please email Izi Robson at ….
Get Involved
We welcome researchers, artists, and community organizations to join us in documenting, understanding, and responding to chaos in global health.
Give
Support the CHAOS initiative and help bring stories of resilience to the world.