The experiences and coping strategies of HIV/AIDS primary caregivers within two disadvantaged communities in the Western Cape metropole
Year: 2006
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) that leads to Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is considered to be spreading at a high rate in South Africa.Research indicates that this disease is highly prevalent among people aged between 15 and 49.It is estimated that one in five adults in South Africa is HIV positive.According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), HIV/AIDS presents itself in four stages.During Stage I and Stage II individuals are asymptomatic and thus functional.In stage III and Stage IV, sufferers experience debilitating opportunistic infections, therefore requiring emotional, financial, physical and social assistance.Community or home-based care nurses manage the treatment of sufferers at their homes while under the care of their family members, friends, spouses and significant others.Caring for an HIV+ person can be very demanding, impacting on carers financially, physically, emotionally and socially.The present study explored the experiences and coping strategies of HIV/AIDS primary caregivers.Eight (8) participants, consisting of both males and females aged between 20 and 44, were drawn from two disadvantaged communities in the Western Cape Metropole, namely Guguletu and Khayelitsha.The study adopted a phenomenological method of enquiry given the paucity of qualitative, interview-based research on HIV/AIDS caregivers.The results of the study revealed three dominant components of the caring experience, namely: 'The Caring Experience', 'Family and Community Reponses', and 'Managing the Role of Caring and the Societal Response'.It was found that caring for an HIV infected individual is emotionally and financially taxing for the carer.Families and community were also observed by carers to be emotionally strained by the HIV diagnoses of their loved ones.The researcher recommends that advanced training for HIV/AIDS formal caregivers is needed to enable them to assess stress among the informal caregivers and to enable them to refer accordingly.i DECLARATION I declare that The Experiences and Coping Strategies of HIV/AIDS Primary Caregivers Within Two Disadvantaged Communities in the Western Cape Metropole is my own work, that it has not been submitted for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by complete references.Full name……………………………… Date…………………………….Signed……………………………….
Author: Molemoeng Shebi
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2460900361