The practice of community caregivers in a home-based HIV/AIDS project in South Africa

The aim of this study was to describe the practice of community caregivers in a home-based AIDS care project at seven sites in South Africa. The community caregivers felt positive about the contribution they made, but found it difficult to cope with the poverty and complexity of problems they were faced with. They visited each client an average of five times per month, and their care usually involved counselling and informing, symptom control, psychosocial support and welfare assistance. The caregivers worked in close collaboration with the South African Hospice Association and clinic staff, and each site developed a work pattern suitable to its resources.