Understanding the provision and implementation of psychosocial support services for children receiving HIV care in eThekwini Municipality Clinic, KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) continues to be a global problem, with about 36.9 million people living with HIV globally, 35.1 million of whom are adults, and 1.8 million being children under the age of 15 (UNAIDS, 2019). According to UNAIDS (2019) South Africa recorded the largest number of HIV burden in 2016, with an estimated 7.1 million people living with HIV. Additionally, 320,000 of the 7.1 million HIV-infected people were children under the age of 15. Providing HIV care and therapy is crucial in helping people deal successfully with HIV pandemic, this also improves the quality of their lives. Given the possible difficulties that HIV infected children may face, it was important to examine the provision and implementation of psychosocial support services in one of the EThekwini Municipal Clinic situated in Pinetown. The study employed a purposive and snowball sampling strategies to select fifteen participants which comprise of seven healthcare workers and eight caregivers who live and cater for children living with HIV. These selected participants were interviewed using face to face in-depth interview techniques. This study was conducted in one of the ETkwenini Municipal clinic in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, because it is a public primary healthcare facility that provides HIV treatments and supports services to the community of eThekwini and surrounding municipalities. The findings of the study established that EThekwini Municipal Clinic renderes psychosocial interventions for children living with HIV through Indivdual Counselling and Support Groups. The psychosocial support groups deal with issues around HIV care, which includes HIV testing, counseling and treatment programs, with the aim of both capacitating children with knowledge about HIV and equally addressing the psychosocial needs of children. The study further revealed that the facility under question also employs communication tools such as “Papa Noah” which assists and facilitates communication of healthcare workers and children in a child-friendly manner and aged-appropriate style. The study concluded that psychological support services to children in HIV care at EThekwini Municipal Clinic have a potential to improve the children's quality of life and reduce mortality. The study also learnt that healthcare workers are playing a major role in the provision and implementation of the healthcare services; however, they are subjected to poor working conditions with long working hours, which often has a negative impact on both their drive and productivity.