Living with AIDS: perceptions, attitudes and post-diagnosis behaviour of HIV/AIDS patients in Ghana

AIDS infection has created a fear of stigmatization, isolation and panic among infected persons. There are, however, few studies that explore the perceptions and attitudes of HIV/AIDS patients in sub-Saharan Africa, partly because of the isolation and withdrawal of patients. Using data from a study on the social dimensions of AIDS infection in Ghana, this paper explores the attitudes and behaviour of patients and their perception of the attitudes of their relations and neighbours towards them. The traditional forms of support for sick persons in Ghana are under strain either due to or independent of HIV infection. In spite of changes, infected persons perceive their female relatives to be more sympathetic than their male relatves. Some patients continue to deny to themselves their HIV status. These findings have implications for programming as the disease enters its second decade

HIV/AIDS education and counselling: experiences from Ghana

The emergence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa presents a challenge not only to public health paradigms but also models for public health education. Although the nature and spread of the disease have common features with a number of known diseases, the initial reactions to the disease have contributed to produce what Jeanneney (1987) refers to as 'a collective emotional hysteria' characteristic of the debate on syphilis in the early part of the twentieth century. Fear and ignorance associated with the hysteria have led to various reactions such as panic, scapegoating, stigmatization and denial (Jeanneney 1987; Awusabo-Asare and Agyeman 1993). As with some previous epidemics, the strategy has been to make factual and understandable information accessible to people (Carballo and Kenya 1994). The basic philosophy is that people should not die from ignorance. For sub-Saharan Africa, some of the pertinent questions are: how do we provide culturally relevant and socially acceptable information within the existing socio-economic constraints? Given the high illiteracy rate how should information be presented so as to reach as many people as possible? How should audience segmentation be approached in view of the limited resources available for educational campaigns on HIV infection? What are some of the socio-cultural constraints to the counselling of AIDS patients and their relations? The aim of this paper is to describe some of the approaches adopted in three settings in Ghana to provide community education and counselling for communities, patients and their relatives on HIV/AIDS infection. The three areas are Berekum District of Brong-Ahafo Region, Manya and Yilo Krobo Districts of Eastern Region and Assin District of Central Region (Figure 1). The services are operated from the Berekum Holy Family Hospital, the Agomanya Saint Martin de Porres clinic and the Assin Fosu Saint Francis Xavier Hospital. All three hospitals belong to the Catholic Church

Rolling out climate smart Cocoa through public-private partnership in Ghana: A Framework highlighting the step-by-step procedure towards climate smart cocoa finance in Ghana

The cocoa industry has been the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy over the years through the provision of revenues from foreign exchange earnings and the generation of employment for farmers who are mainly small holders. Climate change is a phenomenon that has been taking place throughout history but over the last century it has accelerated and scientists believe it is increasingly due to human activities (Cook et al, 2016). The climate in Ghana has likewise been affected and it is having an impact on agricultural production and therefore cocoa. Thus, cocoa farming areas have been delineated into three climatic impact zones – Cope, Adjust and Transform. The Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) through the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ghana together with the Rainforest Alliance has recently documented and aligned Climate Smart Cocoa practices across the three impact zones to help farmers mitigate the effects of climate change. This document is a step-by-step process to facilitate the partnership among public and private sector financing of Climate smart cocoa (CSC)

Applications of sensors for in-home elder support

The number of retirees in the US is continuously increasing in proportion to the total population as the baby-boomers in the United States age. As these retirees age they are in need on continuous medical treatment and care which impacts the percent of the national budget placed on healthcare. As healthcare issues with the retirees they are often moved by their family members to assisted living facilities or to nursing homes. This movement is costly to both the family members and to the government agencies paying for or subsidizing their care. The proposal brought forth in this thesis is to design a sensor based system that should reduce the need for personnel and enhance elder\u27s quality of life by affording them more independence allowing them to live at home longer; The purpose of this thesis is the evaluation of different sensor types with regard to benefits, specificity of sensor signal to the function being monitored, drawbacks, reliability, acceptance levels by elders, privacy concerns. The design concepts for sensor assembly\u27s configurations under the special set of criteria that must be applied in the homes of elders, information of reliability studies: signal threshold levels, resolution of potential conflicts or false positives. Finally an inference engine R&D: Drawing inferences and conclusions from signals and temporal sequences, correlation with other signals, signal validation and plausibility analysis. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Attitudes to and management of HIV/AIDS among health workers in Ghana: the case of Cape Coast municipality

Health Care Workers as key players in the prevention and management of diseases and important opinion and community leaders have become targets for studies, more so with the outbreak of HIV. Their perceptions, attitudes and practices have implications for the management of diseases in both health centres and communities. This study reports some of the results of in-depth interviews with Health Care Workers in the Cape Coast municipality (Ghana) on their perception of risk of exposure to HIV, attitudes to known persons with HIV/AIDS, counselling and confidentiality. Results indicate a general fear of infection given the working environment and conditions such as the insufficient supply of basic items, and inadequate information on the sero-status of some patients. Although aware of the basic precautions needed to avoid infection, some health workers did not follow them. There was also a lack of consensus among them on the issues of confidentiality and responsibility towards a discordant partner. The main arguments were those of the general debate between safeguarding individual rights and protecting the common good. It is important for the medical establishment to debate the issue so that the rights of some individuals are not compromised