Abstract
BackgroundVolunteer caregivers are a critical source of support for the majority of people living with HIV and AIDS in southern Africa, which has extremely high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates. While studies have shown that volunteer caregiving is associated with negative health and socio-economic outcomes, little is known about the positive experiences of volunteers in the home-based care context in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to explore the perception of rewards among volunteers working in home-based care settings.MethodsThis study uses a qualitative design. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a purposively selected sample of 55 volunteer caregivers using an interview schedule containing open-ended questions.ResultsVolunteer caregivers derived intrinsic rewards related to self-growth and personal (emotional and psychological) development on the job; they also derived satisfaction from community members taking a liking for them and expressing a need for their services. Volunteers felt gratified by the improvements in their health behaviours, which were a direct consequence of the experiences of caring for terminally ill patients with AIDS. Extrinsic rewards came from appreciation and recognition shown by patients and community members. Extrinsic rewards also accrued to volunteers when the services they rendered made their patients happy. Perhaps the greatest sources of extrinsic rewards are skills and competencies acquired from training and experience while caring for their patients, and volunteers' ability to make a difference in the community.ConclusionsInsights into volunteer caregiver rewards provide opportunities for policy makers and programme managers to develop a model of home-based care that facilitates the accrual of rewards to volunteers alongside volunteers' traditional duties of patient care. Programme managers could employ these insights in recruiting and assisting volunteers to identify and reflect on rewards in the caregiving situation as a means of reducing the burden of care and sustaining volunteer interest in caregiving.
Highlights
Volunteer caregivers are a critical source of support for the majority of people living with HIV and AIDS in southern Africa, which has extremely high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates
Informal caregivers are a critical source of support for the majority of people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide [14]
The two care organizations that met these criteria are faith-based organizations (FBOs) and were recruited for the study, given that FBOs play a critical role in homebased care in South Africa [4,8]
Summary
Volunteer caregivers are a critical source of support for the majority of people living with HIV and AIDS in southern Africa, which has extremely high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates. Informal caregivers are a critical source of support for the majority of people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide [14] This is true in the southern Africa region, which has countries with some of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the world. South Africa is severely affected by the epidemic; the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that 18.1% of the adult population in the country were living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2007 [5]. Government is supporting home-based care as a way of reducing the pressure on public health facilities This entails reduction in the length of patient stay in hospitals [4] through non-admission or early discharge of HIV/ AIDS patients to homes to be cared for by family members. Most family caregivers are illequipped and under-resourced to provide the needed care [4]
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