WUNRN
12/03/2010
YWCA of
On Friday March
5, 2010 at the CSW, the president of the YWCA of Sierra Leone Florence
Kaindaneh spoke on a panel about supporting the caregivers of people living
with HIV and AIDS. Panellists explored challenges facing caregivers and
strategies for supporting and retaining them.
Florence said that in Sierra Leone, as in many other countries, most
caregivers are women between ages 16 and 60. Many are widows and girls and are
often taken out of school to be caregivers, effectively stopping their
education.
Stigmatisation of people with living with HIV remains a serious problem
so the YWCA trains caregivers in counselling to reduce stigma, reported
Florence: “When your status becomes known in the community, it is important to
help to rebuild broken family relationships. People with HIV and AIDS can
suffer from both the disease and the pain of abandonment. Caregivers can give
counselling.”
“A 16-year old female caregiver broke into tears explaining how she was
taken from school as the eldest daughter of the family to care for their ailing
mother while her brothers continued with schooling. She said, “I wanted to be a
lawyer to defend the girls who are sent for early marriages in my village but I
cannot as I have been withdrawn from school to care for my sick mother.” (From
YWCA of Sierra Leone survey)
The YWCA of Sierra Leone takes an integrated approach to caregiving.
Caregivers earn incentives and are allocated land for farming. They also
receive nutritional support and educational support for their children in the
form of school fees, uniforms, books, and lunch money. “What is critical for us
in Sierra Leone is to provide incentives for caregivers so that they continue,”
said Florence, “People living with HIV need that support.”
In addition, the YWCA undertakes sensitisation and outreach programs in
local languages for caregivers on issues of sexual and reproductive health and
rights and HIV and AIDS so that they are better informed about the work they
do.
Other panel presenters said that the Catholic Church’s position on
condoms was a challenge and called for integrated health services. They also
identified a need for more training for caregivers, greater networking at all
levels, and national policies that support caregiving.
Lessons and recommendations on supporting caregivers from the YWCA of
Sierra Leone:
·
A pilot survey
done by the YWCA showed that caregivers found their job demotivating and
demoralising because they lack adequate recognition and incentives to motivate
them. This made it difficult to cope. They indicated they needed some form of
payment or stipends of food and sanitary supplies.
·
Challenges for
caregivers include lack of adequate and necessary nutrition for their patients,
bad roads and transportation problems, inadequate community support, and
inadequate attention and guidance from healthcare personnel. Caregiving also
takes time away from productive activities to earn money for daily survival for
themselves and their families.
·
Encouraging
words, frequent visits and supervision from medical personnel, some form of
remuneration and skills building support from community stakeholders including
chiefs and religious leaders should be provided to lessen the caregivers’
burden.
·
Immense support
systems are necessary for caregivers if efficiency and effectiveness of care is
to be sustained.
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