Views of health service providers on the need for support services for HIV-positive mothers in the rural areas of Lesotho : an ecological perspective

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: HIV/AIDS is one of the worst pandemics affecting the world today. It cuts across all boundaries and many people are infected as well as affected. The virus has reached all the corners of the globe, but the most hit by it is Africa, especially southern Africa, which carries more than half of the population infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The top five countries whose populationsare infected with HIV are in southern Africa.Lesotho is amongst the top three on this list and also has problems of poverty and a high unemployment rate. Women and children, who are the target groups that are most affected by poverty, are also those living in rural areas. Thus, being an HIV-positive mother living in the rural areas of Lesotho means one has to deal with poverty, the inaccessibility of services and the psychological impacts of HIV.The aim of the study was to gain a better understanding of the views of health service providers on the need and accessibility of support services for HIV-positive mothers in the rural areas of Lesotho from an ecological perspective. To achieve this aim, the objectives were: to offer an overview of the phenomenon of HIV and describe the psychosocial needs and sociocultural circumstance of HIV-positive mothers in the rural areas of Lesotho, and to discuss the HIV-positive mothers' need for support services from an ecological perspective.Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used. The research utilised exploratory and descriptive design. Purposive sampling was used to select the 30 participants who took part in the study. Data was gathered by means of semi-structured questionnaires that were administered during individual interviews. The questionnaires were formulated on the basis of information retrieved during the literature review.The findings of the study reveal that HIV-positive mothers living in the rural areas of Lesotho have economic, social and cultural circumstance as factors hindering their treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. They are also faced with the psychological impacts of HIV, and the findings revealed that disclosure was the key to addressing their problems.The findings also show that most mothers receivedemotional, instrumental, informational and appraisal support from their families at the micro-level of the ecological perspective. The other levels – meso, exo and macro – provided only limited support for the mothers. The recommendations are that these mothers need social support at all levels of the ecological perspective to meet their needs

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University