Identifying and developing strategies to enable primary health care nurses, social workers and psychologists to improve care and support to children who have become AIDS orphans living in township communities in South Africa

Sharron Frood*, Esmeralda Ricks, Dalena van Rooyen, Emma Rowland

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The development of strategies to enable primary health care nurses, social workers, and psychologists (referred to in this article as health and social care professionals) to improve care and support for children who have become AIDS orphans living in township communities in South Africa. Method: Developing these strategies comprised four steps; 1) A scoping literature review was undertaken to establish the legislative and policy frameworks that inform the South African Government’s policy directives concerning children living in South Africa, 2) Secondary data analysis of 24 scoping interviews with primary health care nurses (n = 10), social workers (n = 8) and psychologists (n = 6), was undertaken by (SF) to identify strategies and recommendations made by these participants to improve care and support for these vulnerable children. Steps 3 and 4 were conducted using the results from the literature review and the results from this secondary data analysis, 3) The development of a conceptual framework, and 4) the development and population of the strategies. Results: The following strategies were identified, developed, and reviewed by an expert panel comprising academics and professionals from psychology, social work, and primary health care nursing. The grand strategies identified were 1) Strengthening existing legislative and policy frameworks, 2) Enhancing the resilience of professionals, 3) Developing interdisciplinary collaborations and 4) Facilitating an empowering environment for professionals. The expert panel appraised these strategies as having clarity, being comprehensive, implementable, and generalisable, in township communities in South Africa, and being significant. Conclusion: Comprehensive and implementable research-based strategies were developed which could be implemented to improve care and support for these vulnerable children.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)201-218
Number of pages17
JournalInternational Journal of child health and human development
Volume16
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 8 Aug 2024

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