Community home-based care - a cost-effective model of care: who benefits?

Statistics indicate that the HIV and AIDS pandemic is rampant in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Increasingly, people with HIV and AIDS rely on voluntary community home-based caregivers for care and support. Drawing on original research conducted in 2005 and a subsequent study in 2009, this article presents the socio-economic context of care and women's perspectives on care giving. The study was conducted in three different communities in KZN. The feminist post-structuralist perspective provided the theoretical framework. Data collection methods included in-depth semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary review. The data were analysed using the grounded theory approach. The study revealed that it is poor, black, unemployed Zulu women who provide community home-based care (CHBC) in the province. The findings further suggested that the CHBC programme overlooks the realities of women, who operate in a context of poverty and unemployment. It is therefore argued that while the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan 2007-2011 has made progressive strides, implementation of the set targets remains a formidable challenge. In practice, the Plan remains gender-blind to poor women's social, political and economic imperatives. The article proposes a model of care that takes into cognisance the interests of women caregivers.