Young caregivers in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub‐Saharan Africa (original) (raw)
Related papers
Alternative care giving in the context of Aids in southern Africa: complex strategies for care
Journal of International Development, 2007
This paper examines the various mechanisms by which alternative care giving occurs in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in southern Africa. High infection rates and the clustering of illness and death among families and communities, has resulted in large numbers of orphans coupled with an extended family support system which is already over-burdened and in some cases disintegrating. Drawing on a series of case studies from qualitative research carried out with young people, aged between 10 and 17 years, and their guardians in urban and rural communities in Malawi and Lesotho the changing nature and increasing complexity of family, household and community relationships around care giving are discussed.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Since the start of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, very little research has been conducted on the older persons’ provision of HIV-related care to adult children. This is despite the fact that a large proportion of adults who die of AIDS-related illnesses stay with their elderly parents during the terminal stage of their illnesses. This paper explores how older persons in rural settings experience caring for their adult children with AIDS-related illnesses. In-depth interviews took place with older persons aged 60 years and above. The qualitative data analysis was informed by thematic approach to identify and report themes using inductive approach. The paper found that the older persons undertake the caring role without resources and support. As a result, they are burdened with having to care for adult children with AIDS-related illness. Fatigue arising from the hard work of physically caring for their sick adult children day and night adds to the physical burden on the older persons. Old...
Reflecting dominant understandings of childhood, many researchers describe orphans as an emotional and financial cost to the households in which they live. This has created a representation of orphans as a burden, not only to their fostering household, but also to society. This article seeks to challenge this representation by exploring children's contributions to their fostering households. Drawing on research from Bondo District in Kenya, this article brings together the views of 36 guardians and 69 orphaned children between the ages of 11 and 17, who articulated their circumstances through photography and drawing. Nearly 300 photos and drawings were selected by the children and subsequently described in writing. An additional 44 in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted to explore findings further. The data suggest that many fostering households benefit tremendously from absorbing orphaned children. All orphans were found to contribute to their fostering household's income and provide valuable care or support to ageing, ailing or young members of their households. The article concludes that caution should be exercised in using the term "caregiver" to describe foster parents due to the reciprocity, and indeed at times a reversal, of caring responsibilities.
Patient Experience Journal
In this paper we discuss the experience of caregiving for children living with HIV in a resource poor environment in Gulu municipality in northern Uganda; the main research questions of the study were: what are the perceptions of caregivers on the care of children with HIV, and what barriers and enablers exist that undermine or promote better care for children respectively? The experience of caregivers and their perceptions on managing HIV in children is believed to shape the health seeking behaviour towards treatment and efforts to cope with its negative impact on the body. Women and children are the greatest bearer of the burden of the HIV scourge to date. While more and more children are undergoing treatment as a way of controlling HIV/AIDS, it is still crucial to understand the perceptions of their parents and/or caregivers on the AIDS pandemic and the impact of antiretroviral therapy on the quality of life of their children. In this paper the socio-medical views of these clients, based on an ethnographic study are discussed to give a holistic understanding of the 'crisis' of HIV/AIDS as well as their 'imagined' hopes, fears and expectations on antiretroviral therapy as HIV/AIDS become a chronic disease. Five themes emerged from analysing the experiences and perceptions of caregivers of children living with HIV: beliefs in the antiretroviral therapy, psychological counselling, family breakdown, positive living with HIV and social stigma. These were central in their perception of caring for the affected children and other family members.
International journal of environmental research and public health, 2015
The care of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa is often undertaken by grandparents, yet little is known about the care relationship between grandparent and grandchild. Our aim was to examine this relationship to understand the needs and responsibilities of both the HIV positive child and older carer and the nature of the relationship, and to assess the implications for care for the children and the older carers. A qualitative study was conducted with 40 purposively sampled children (13-17 years) and their older carers (50 years and above). Participants were recruited from two clinics in south-western Uganda. Up to three semi-structured interviews were held with each participant. Data were analysed using a thematic framework approach. We found that the care relationship was mostly reciprocal: HIV positive children depended on carers for basic and health needs and carers counted on the children for performing tedious household tasks. The relationship was also characte...
Giving care to people with symptoms of AIDS in rural sub-Saharan Africa
AIDS Care, 2004
In rural sub-Saharan Africa, most care for patients with AIDS is provided at home by relatives. Caring for those with AIDS is assumed to be a substantial burden, but little is known from the perspectives of those who provide the care. In this paper we use interviews with caregivers, supplemented with survey data from a larger study in rural Malawi, to investigate this issue. We focus on the caregivers' diagnoses of the illness of their patients, the type and duration of the care they provided, the support they received from relatives and other members of the community, and the extent to which caregiving was experienced as an emotional, physical, and financial burden. Although none of the caregivers knew of a formal diagnosis and few explicitly named their relative's disease as AIDS, most appeared to suspect it. They described the illness using the typical symptoms of AIDS as they are locally understood and sometimes related the illness to their patient's sexual history. The care, typically given by close female relatives of the patient, was limited to the care that would be given to anyone who was seriously ill. What was striking, however, was the compassion of the caregivers and the attempts they made to provide the best care possible in their circumstances. For most caregivers, kin and members of the community provided social, moral, and physical support, as well as modest financial assistance. Caregiving was physically and emotionally demanding and confined the caregivers to their home, but most caregivers did not consider caregiving a problem primarily because the patients were close relatives. The financial impact of caregiving was typically modest because the caregivers had very little income and few possessions to sell.