Kyomuhendo Clare, Boateng Alice, Agyemang F Akosua
Bugema University, P.O.Box 6529, Kampala, Uganda.
Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, P.O. Box 96, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Heliyon. 2021 Aug 14;7(8):e07786. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07786. eCollection 2021 Aug.
In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS remains a big challenge and a leading cause of death among young adults, its main productive human resource. Hence, increasing the demand for care and support services by the epidemic infected and affected people. As a result, elderly persons, especially women are burdened to provide care and support; a midst disintegrated family support system and the inability of public and private sectors to adequately address their needs. The current qualitative study examined the support services available for elderly women caring for people living with HIV/AIDS in Masindi district, Uganda. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit 24 participants. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 elderly women caregivers and 6 key informants. Findings indicated that the elderly women caregivers were at least receiving support from two major sectors; including the informal (family, friends, neighbors, religious and community groups) and formal (The Aids Support Organisation- TASO and the government) support systems. However, this support was not consistent and efficient for optimal caregiving. Therefore, more needs to done by making both the informal and formal support systems fully available for elderly caregivers for HIV/AIDS people, thus, benefiting from direct intervention and support services to help meet their care needs.
在撒哈拉以南非洲地区，艾滋病毒/艾滋病仍然是一项重大挑战，也是青壮年（其主要的有生产力的人力资源）中的主要死因。因此，受该流行病感染和影响的人们对护理和支持服务的需求不断增加。结果，老年人，尤其是妇女，在家庭支持系统瓦解以及公共和私营部门无法充分满足其需求的情况下，负担起提供护理和支持的责任。当前的定性研究调查了乌干达马辛迪区为照顾艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的老年妇女提供的支持服务。采用目的抽样方法招募了24名参与者。对18名老年女性护理人员和6名关键信息提供者进行了深入访谈。研究结果表明，老年女性护理人员至少从两个主要部门获得支持，包括非正式部门（家庭、朋友、邻居、宗教和社区团体）和正式部门（艾滋病支持组织-TASO和政府）的支持系统。然而，这种支持并不持续且效率不高，无法实现最佳护理。因此，需要采取更多措施，使非正式和正式支持系统都能充分为照顾艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的老年护理人员所用，从而受益于直接干预和支持服务，以帮助满足他们的护理需求。
