People living with HIV and AIDS experience a number of symptoms such as fatigue, nausea and vomiting, fever and anxiety during the various stages of the illness. This has a negative effect on their quality of life. Women are the most commonly infected group and are at greater risk of acquiring HIV than men. In addition to their vulnerability, women have other responsibilities in society and expectations from society to fulfil. Women's health-seeking and health practice behaviours are often hindered by a number of factors, including family responsibilities, poverty and fear. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study aimed at exploring the self-care symptommanagement strategies used by women living with HIV and AIDS in an urban area in KwaZuluNatal in 2006.Eleven participants were selected through a purposive sampling method until saturation was reached. Individuals were assessed in depth, using the symptom-management strategy interview. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine the transcribed interviews, using a deductive approach based on the categories of self-care symptom-management strategies.Various physical and psychological symptoms and a number of self-care symptom-management strategies were reported by the participants and these included taking medication and seeking help.The study makes recommendations on how to improve women's ability to employ a self-care strategy in managing their HIV-and AIDS-related symptoms. OPSOMMINGMense wat met MIV en Vigs leef, ervaar verskeie simptome in die verskillende stadiums van die siekte, soos moegheid, naarheid en braking, koors en angstigheid. Dit het 'n negatiewe effek op hul lewensgehalte. Vroue is die groep wat die meeste besmet word, en staan 'n groter risiko om MIV op te doen as mans. Benewens hul vatbaarheid, het vroue ook ander verantwoordelikhede en verwagtinge om in die samelewing te vervul. Vroue se gesondheidsbevorderende en gesondheidspraktykgedrag word dikwels gekniehalter deur 'n aantal faktore, wat familieverantwoordelikhede, armoede en vrees insluit.Hierdie artikel bied die bevindinge aan van 'n kwalitatiewe studie gemik op die verkenning van selfsorg-simptoombeheerstrategieë wat deur vroue met MIV en Vigs in 2006 in 'n stedelike gebied in KwaZulu-Natal gebruik is.'n Steekproef van 11 respondente is geselekteer deur middel van 'n doelbewuste steekproefmetode totdat versadiging bereik is. Individuele diepte-onderhoude is gevoer deur gebruik te maak van die simptoombeheerstrategie-onderhoud. Kwalitatiewe inhoudelike analise is gebruik om die getranskribeerde onderhoude te analiseer deur middel van 'n deduktiewe metode gegrond op die kategorieë van selfsorg-simptoombeheerstrategieë.Verskeie fisiese en psigologiese simptome asook 'n aantal selfsorg-simptoombeheerstrategieë is deur die respondente gerapporteer. Die selfsorg-simptoombeheerstrategieë wat in die studie identifiseer is, het die neem van medikasie en die soek na hulp ingesluit.Die studie maak aanbevelings oor hoe om vroue se vermoë om 'n selfsorg-strategie om MIV-e...
The article explores the relationship between social support and health behaviour of rural and urban women who are living with HIV in South Africa. Our study was a descriptive survey of a group of pregnant and non-pregnant women living with HIV. The sample size was 262 women, 165 from urban area and 97 from rural area. Data were collected using 3 instruments, namely a demographic questionnaire, the health behaviour schedule and the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey. Significant findings indicate that in the urban area 71% of women had disclosed their HIV status to someone, while in the rural area 49% had done so. A total of 77% of the women indicated that they were sexually active--21% had 2 partners and 20% indicated that they had at least one episode of a sexually transmitted disease since finding out their HIV status. A total of 16% said that they currently received counselling, which was significantly more frequent in the rural sample (27%) than the urban (11%). The membership of support groups is at 12% among the participating women, and social support as well as membership of a support group was higher in the rural group than the urban group. Good social support showed an association with condom use, support group attendance and taking vitamins. However, receiving counselling as well as membership of a support group showed stronger association with positive health behaviour than social support on its own. The higher social support was not associated with increased disclosure.
The study highlights that participants used multiple sources to get information about how to manage the experienced symptoms related to HIV, namely, healthcare providers, family and friends as well as themselves. It is to be noted that each source provided a preferred type of information.
Risky sexual behaviours in South Africa are a major contributing factor to the spread of HIV infection and AIDS. HIV infection amongst minibus taxi drivers is a concern, because these people belong to an occupational group that exhibits risky behaviours due to the demands of their work. Given the high vulnerability of minibus taxi drivers, exploring the sexual beliefs and health-related sexual practices of this group will assist in planning targeted interventions. The objectives of this study were to assess the level of knowledge, beliefs and practices regarding HIV infection and AIDS amongst minibus taxi drivers. An exploratory descriptive study was conducted using a pre-tested questionnaire to explore and describe sexual beliefs and practices associated with HIV infection and AIDS in a convenience sample of 175 minibus taxi drivers. Permission to undertake the study was obtained from the KwaZulu-Natal Taxi Alliance and individuals who participated in the study. Data analysis were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences 13.0. The study revealed that minibus taxi drivers are one of the high- risk groups in the spread of HIV infection and AIDS; they lack necessary education and need attention in relation to control and prevention of the spread of HIV and AIDS. Multiple sexual partners are relatively common amongst the minibus taxi drivers. Violence against women and even forceful sexual intercourse in the belief that women should tolerate it to keep the family together was reported. There is a need for intervention programmes with a focus on minibus taxi drivers and similar high-risk groups. Prevention activities should incorporate the distribution of condoms amongst this group and HIV prevention educational programmes, as well as creating mechanisms for accessing circumcision by the minibus taxi drivers.
In South Africa, the minibus taxi drivers are largely becoming another high-risk category in the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Although previous studies have shown that knowledge of HIV and AIDS is relatively high among the taxi drivers it is still not clear how this sub-population perceive the support rendered to them with regard to HIV and AIDS prevention strategies. This study aimed to focus on this atypical workplace and explore the KwaZulu-Natal, minibus taxi drivers' perceptions on HIV and AIDS. In this study, qualitative methods were utilized to determine the minibus taxi drivers' understanding of HIV and AIDS infection, HIV prevention strategies, existing support strategies and effects of HIV and AIDS on the taxi industry. Focus-group discussions were conducted, to collect data. The results showed that even though the taxi drivers had some understanding on HIV and AIDS there was still a dire need for interventions that were geared towards addressing HIV-related needs of the drivers in this industry. Keywords: HIV and AIDS, mini bus taxi drivers RésuméEn Afrique du Sud, les chauffeurs de taxi-minibus sont en train de devenir en grande partie une autre catégorie à haut risque de l'épidémie de VIH et du sida. Les études précédentes ont montré que la connaissance du VIH et du sida est relativement élevée parmi les chauffeurs de taxi; pourtant, la façon dont cette sous-population perçoit le soutien qui leur est apporté en lien aux stratégies de prévention le VIH et du sida reste obscure. Cette étude s'est efforcée de se concentrer sur ce lieu de travail atypique et d'étudier les perceptions du VIH et du sida qu'ont les chauffeurs de taxi-minibus au KwaZulu-Natal. À cet effet, des méthodes qualitatives ont servi à déterminer la compréhension que les chauffeurs de taxi-minibus ont de l'infection du VIH et du sida, des stratégies de prévention du VIH, des stratégies de soutien existantes et des effets du VIH et du sida sur l'industrie du taxi. Les données ont été rassemblées par le biais de groupes de discussion. Les résultats ont révélé que malgré une certaine compréhension du VIH et du sida parmi les chauffeurs de taxi, il existe toujours un besoin extrême d'interventions répondant aux besoins liés au VIH des chauffeurs de cette industrie.
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