Das Arbeitsprofil der Angehörigen von Menschen mit HIV/Aids

In den letzten beiden Jahren wurde in der Schweiz die angestiegene HIV-Inzidenz in den Medien und im Gesundheitswesen mit Besorgnis kommentiert. Dabei standen die Angehörigen nicht im Blickpunkt, obwohl ihre Zahl ebenfalls und exponentiell ansteigt. Schweizer ForscherInnen haben in den letzten Jahren etwas Licht auf ihre Situation geworfen. In dieser Untersuchung steht nun die Frage im Zentrum, welche familiale Arbeit die Angehörigen leisten, unter welchen Bedingungen sie diese Arbeit erbringen, und welche Konsequenzen daraus erwachsen. Die Datenauswertung aus den elf leitfadengestützten Interviews mit Angehörigen orientierte sich an einer qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die befragten Personen äußerst vielfältige und umfangreiche Arbeiten übernehmen, und zwar nicht nur für die HIV-positiven Menschen, sondern auch für sich selbst und weitere Angehörige und Bekannte. Dabei erzielen sie eine vorwiegend stabilisierende Wirkung auf den HIV-positiven Menschen. Zu diskutieren gilt es zum einen die Dynamik der familialen Arbeit. Diese zieht kontinuierliche Anpassungsanforderungen nach sich. Zum andern muss die oft unspektakuläre, aber nicht weniger wichtige Arbeit der Angehörigen wahrgenommen und symbolisch, sozial und finanziell anerkannt werden. Zum Schluss werden Implikationen für die Pflegepraxis aufgezeigt.

Knowledge and attitude of nurses caring for patients with HIV/AIDS in Uganda

Nurses working in a regional hospital represent the largest group of health care workers in Uganda. Four hundred seventy-seven nurses and midwives completed the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) knowledge and attitude surveys (86% response rate). Approximately 95% (n = 452) had provided care to HIV/AIDS patients; yet 86% (n = 388) believed resources to obtain HIV/AIDS information were inadequate. Fear of contagion was great (47%, n = 232). HIV/AIDS knowledge gaps included "precaution and transmission" (64.7%) and "agent and immunology" (53.4%). Knowledgeable respondents had less fear of contagion. Positive attitudes toward patients with HIV/AIDS were displayed despite fear of contagion.

Effects of Coresidence and Caregiving on Health of Thai Parents of Adult Children with AIDS

PURPOSE

To explore potential effects on the health of older parents living with and caring for people infected with HIV.

DESIGN

Comparison of health outcomes between affected parents and matched nonaffected parents, and between principal caregivers and nonprincipal caregivers in Thailand.

METHODS

Survey data from 394 affected households and 376 nonaffected households; qualitative data from 18 interviews of affected older parents.

RESULTS

A large proportion of older people with HIV-infected children provided time-consuming and strenuous caregiving services to them. Mothers shouldered most of this burden. Mothers who had a child die from AIDS reported lower levels of overall happiness than did mothers who had not. Mothers and fathers of PHAs (persons with HIV/AIDS) who died reported lower levels of overall happiness compared to 3 years previously (before the time of the death of their child) and compared to parents from households that did not experience an adult child's death. Many parents of children with AIDS experienced anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, muscle strain, and head and stomach aches during the time they cared for their ill children.

CONCLUSIONS

Many older people suffered adverse health outcomes related to living with and caring for their children with AIDS. Recommendations indicate a variety of programs that might help such older parents.

Comfort levels of nursing students regarding clinical assignment to a patient with AIDS

For educators, preparing nursing students for the care of persons with AIDS is an important responsibility. A review of the literature suggests that many nursing students are fearful of occupational transmission of HIV and that educational interventions may improve the students' attitudes toward caring for patients with AIDS. The author administered Form A of the Nursing Care Comfort scale to a sample of 122 baccalaureate students. Findings revealed variations in comfort levels relative to specific nursing skills.

[Stress, coping, and general health of nurses working at a care unit for patients with AIDS and hematologic diseases]

Based on Lazarus and Folkman's theory about stress and coping, this research aimed at answering questions related to how nurses, who work in two specialized units of a general hospital, evaluate their working environment, their health and how they manage with stressing situations. In the unit of infectious diseases, the nurses' evaluation of their working environment did not surpass the limits of what is considered as acceptable. In the unit of hematological alterations, the results showed higher stress levels. In both units, the evaluation of their health was considered as satisfactory and the coping strategies were similar.

[Women and AIDS: breaking the silence in an adhesion group]

This study aims to discuss the relevance of the adhesion group on the quality of life of HIV-positive women who take part in that activity at a Centro Municipal de Saúde (Rio de Janeiro--Brazil). It is a descriptive investigation with a qualitative approach. It focus on eight women infected by their steady partner. The theoretical referential is constituted by the categories of HIV/AIDS, gender and nursing care. The investigation evidences, as strategies to face AIDS, the increment of the Public Health System (SUS) and the Woman Integral Health Care Program (PAISM), the use of interdisciplinary approaches and multiprofessional critical methodologies in the implementation of health care. It is concluded that nursing care, in the context of the woman's health-disease process, must be ruled through the integrality of humanized assistance, attending ethical and solidarity principles and gender relationships.

Stress buffering effects of family support in AIDS caregiving

This study examines the effects of family support on AIDS caregiver stress over time, comparing HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay-identified men who care for a friend or partner living with HIV (PLWH). Support from the care-recipient's family of origin is assessed, and the stress buffering effects of this type of support are explored longitudinally within a stress proliferation framework for 276 men (114 were HIV-positive, 162 were HIV-negative). Among HIV-positive caregivers, emotional distress is associated with high caregiving stress and low PLWH family support. Emotional distress among HIV-negative caregivers is also associated with caregiving stress, but is not significantly influenced by support from the PLWH's family. For both groups, increasing emotional distress over a seven-month period is a function of increasing caregiver stress, but not PLWH family support. The effects of financial worry and role overload on caregiver emotional distress are conditional upon PLWH family support at Time 1 among HIV-positive caregivers, such that support buffers the distressing impact of financial worry, but may exacerbate the distressing impact of role overload. In addition to characterizing processes of stress proliferation and social support, this research also illustrates how families of choice and families of origin simultaneously shape the experience of the caregiving role and its influence on the wellbeing of gay men.

Exploring the fear of contracting hiv/aids among trauma nurses in the province of Kwazulu-Natal

A qualitative study, using phenomenology as an approach was conducted. The title of the study was “Exploring the fear of contracting HIV/AIDS among trauma nurses in the province of Kwazulu-Natal”. Participants were selected on the basis of category (registered nurses), workplace (level one trauma units), and work experience (six months experience in a trauma unit). Twelve nurses participated in the study, six from the state institutions and six from the private institutions.

A Model for Integrating Hepatitis C Services into an HIV/AIDS Program

Service provision to persons with or at risk for hepatitis C (HCV) has become an important goal for local health departments across the nation. The shared routes of HIV and HCV, the high coinfection rate of HIV/HCV, and the lack of federal or state funding to support HCV programs are reasons for integrating hepatitis C screening and treatment services into existing HIV/AIDS programs. Such an integration of health services conserves resources. This article reviews the development and progress of a county public health department program's integration of HIV/AIDS and HCV services and provides recommendations for other HIV/AIDS programs that might be considering integration of HIV/AIDS and HCV services.