AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:
To
examine the experiences of care giving among Vietnamese family members of
persons living with HIV/AIDS.
BACKGROUND:
As
the number of persons living with HIV/AIDS increases, the need of family
caregivers who can take responsibility for the home care of these persons
increases. Vietnam has one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in Asia.
DESIGN:
A
descriptive cross-sectional study with quantitative and qualitative methods was
used.
METHODS:
A
purposive sample of 104 family caregivers, both male and female, participated
voluntarily by answering a questionnaire of caregiver burden, and 20 of them
participated in in-depth interview.
RESULTS:
Female
caregivers were mainly mothers and wives while male caregivers were mainly
husbands, fathers and siblings. The largest group of family caregivers reported
moderate to severe burden. There was no difference between genders in total
caregiver burden, but there were several differences between older and younger
caregivers in some items of caregiver burden. Five categories of experiences
emerged: Different types of care giving to persons living with HIV/AIDS,
cultural and religious issues associated with care giving, keeping secret to
avoid stigma and discrimination, lack of knowledge about disease and provision
of care, and fear, anxiety and frustration.
CONCLUSIONS:
Stigma
and discrimination should be decreased by providing knowledge to the general
public about HIV/AIDS, in particular about ways of transmission and protection.
Special knowledge should be given to family caregivers to enable them to give
care to persons living with HIV/AIDS at home. This could be done through
culturally appropriate training/intervention programs in which coping methods
should be included. Support group interventions should also be carried through.
The results obtained can be used as baseline information.
RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:
Health
care providers should consider gender, age and culture of family members of
persons living with HIV/AIDS. Knowledge about HIV/AIDS, provision of care at
home and in hospital, and support groups should be developed and implemented.
- 1Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
- 2Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Medical Technology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
- 3Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
- 4Medicine and Pharmacy University Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
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