VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF OLDER PERSONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. THE CASE OF LAVELA OLD AGE CENTRE, NTSELAMANZI, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFFRICA

There is no doubt that older persons face an environment bereft of resources, rights and dignity. This study was explorative and descriptive in design, with data collected from in-depth discussions with the elderly. Findings revealed diametrically opposed factors, with some older persons happily accessing an array of psychosocial benefits, while some had their grants mishandled or complained of the inadequacy of the grant. Others felt their rights to housing were largely being compromised. This paper recommends that the government prioritise the older persons’ state of housing and provide funding for old age centres to ensure that they become sources of psychosocial benefit for elderly members of society

THE ROLE OF INCENTIVES IN RAISING CARE-GIVING PRODUCTIVITY IN BOTSWANA CARE PROGRAMMES AS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE KANYE CARE PROGRAMME

Caregivers refers to either the primary caregivers who are the family and informal persons who take care of the sick person all the time; and community caregivers (called volunteers in Botswana) who are the Government recruited volunteer caregivers and move from one house to another to supervise and assist the primary caregivers in their care giving tasks. However, only the primary caregivers formed the research respondents

Validating that palliative care giving is a stressful occupation: the case of the Kanye community home-based care programme, Botswana

Background: It remains an incontrovertible fact that the phenomenon of HIV/AIDS has not only posed major health and development challenges, but is also a stressor experienced at local, regional and global levels. This article explores the stressrelated challenges facing volunteer palliative caregivers in the Kanye community home-based care (CHBC) programme.Methods: The study was explorative in nature and qualitative in design, and used convenience sampling methodologies to involve 82 registered primary caregivers and the five CHBC nurses in the programme as research participants. Participant observation was also used.Results: The study found the following aspects inherent in care giving to be immensely stressful and challenging:• Heavy caseload of the caregivers;• Ageing of the caregivers;• Stigma and discrimination abound in care giving;• Conflict between caregivers and clients;• Poor state of referral networks;• Inadequate care packages;• Poverty of the caregivers themselves; and• Inadequate food, psychological support and community support networks.Conclusion: The study recommends that putting in place a favourable working atmosphere and environment to address the stresses and stressors of care giving would be pivotal to improve this occupation

Traditional healers as caregivers to HIV/AIDS clients and other terminally challenged persons in Kanye community home-based care programme (CHBC), Botswana

The research study done at the Kanye village of Botswana was qualitative in design and exploratory in nature. While the broad goal aimed at assessing the contributions of caregivers in the Kanye CHBC programme, this article aims at evaluating the traditional healers’ contribution as providers of care to HIV/AIDS patients and other chronically ill persons. The study conveniently involved all the 140 registered caregivers in the Kanye programme, but with only 82 caregivers turning up for focus group discussions. The caregivers were grouped in 10 focus group discussions, and all of the 5 CHBC nurses were subjected to one-on-one interviews. Both the focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews with the nurses used two slightly different interview schedules as data collection instruments. The study findings revealed that traditional healers are important players in caregiving of persons with various ailments but their role, position and contribution in the battle against HIV/AIDS is fast waning with time. The government has been challenged to map out strategies of collaboration between the two systems as traditional healers can complement the services of biomedical practitioners in this era of HIV/AIDS

CHALLENGES THAT THE REFERRAL SYSTEM POSES TO CARE GIVING AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE KANYE COMMUNITY HOMEBASED CARE (CHBC) PROGRAMME IN BOTSWANA

While a caregiver is generally a person who volunteers to take care or help in caring for sickpersons generally at home, whether family members, relatives or other community members,the study distinguishes between the primary caregiver who usually stays with the clients at alltimes, and the community caregiver (so referred to as a volunteer in the Botswana context) whois a government-recruited community volunteer and moves from house to house to help theprimary caregivers execute their caring roles.The four concepts: sick person, client, patient and HIV/AIDS client/s are used interchangeabl

Challenges impacting on the quality of care to persons living with HIV/AIDS and other terminal illnesses with reference to Kanye community home-based care programme

HIV/AIDS has been found to be a challenging disease to humanity, its challenge spin-offs falling especially on to the caregivers of those infected and affected by the virus. This paper aims to discuss the challenges influencing the state of caregiving in the Kanye community home-based care (CHBC) programme in Botswana. The study was qualitative in design and explorative in nature, involving 82 primary caregivers in focus group discussions, and 5 CHBC nurses in individual interviews. Caregivers were found challenged by lack of community networks support, inadequate sanitary and care packages, poor shelter compromising privacy, inadequate income and food for their clients, inadequate care motivation as their volunteerism does not attract any payment, inadequate health personnel to offer psychosocial support like counselling, and an unconducive caring environment generally. Putting in place policies to redress caregivers’ poverty, helping caregivers start income-generating projects, increasing community assistance and caregiving facilities are recommended as factors to address caregiver challenges

ATTITUDES TO ARV ACCESS AND FACTORS UNDERMINING HIV/AIDS PREVENTION. LESSONS FROM THE 2008 TSABONG STIGMA CASE STUDY (BOTSWANA

Though the broad research study from which this article is derived was to assess the prevalenceof stigma and discrimination in the Tsabong District, the aim of this article is to assess theattitudes, views, perceptions and thinking of selected Tsabong communities and people livingwith HIV/AIDS on access to ARV drugs and the administrative success against those factorsand challenges that undermine the prevention efforts especially among the people living withHIV/AIDS and who are on ARVs

Gender discrepancies in the HIV/AIDS Community Home-Based Care Programme in Kanye, Botswana

The aim and objective of this paper is to discuss the gender discrepancies associated with caregiving based on empirical findings from the Kanye HIV/AIDS Community Home-Based Care (CHBC) Programme. The research study was explorative and descriptive in nature and qualitative in design. It used focus group discussions among the caregiver respondents andone-on-one interviews with the CHBC nurses. The findings indicate that the caregiving role among women, and spilling over to girl children, is a result of socialisation that is deeply ingrained in the belief systems of cultures and communities, presents a state of gender exploitation and a human rights denial, is reinforced by the forces of patriarchy, and contributes immensely to the feminisation of poverty. The study recommends gender mainstreaming and analysis in all the institutions of social development, as well as poverty mitigation measures and education to surmount the effects of gender imbalances, gender inequality and gender inequity

ATTITUDES OF PLWHA AND OTHER SELECTED COMMUNITIES IN TSABONG TOWARDS OPERATIONALISING BIOMEDICAL AND TRADITIONAL THERAPIES IN TANDEM TO FACE THE AIDS EPIDEMIC

Though the broad research study from which this article is derived was designed to assess the levels of stigma and discrimination in Tsabong District, the aim and objective of this article is to assess the attitudes of Tsabong people living with HIV/AIDS, along with those of a few Tsabong care service providers and a few members of civil society to the challenges and gaps inherent in the work of biomedical and traditional healers in HIV/AIDS service delivery. It also investigates the possibility of collaboration between the two systems

EVALUATION OF THE SUPPORT TO CARE GIVING BY LOCAL NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS (NGOS) IN THE KANYE CARE PROGRAMME, BOTSWANA

The broad objective of the study was to assess the contribution that caregivers make to CHBCprogrammes. However, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the extent of support that the Kanyecare programme receives from the local NGOs/CBOs in the Kanye region