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Counselling children with Aids
16 May 2003
A new counselling project run by Cotlands and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is helping children with Aids, and their parents or caregivers, come to terms with the disease.
The Cotlands/Chris Hani Baragwanath HIV/Aids counselling project, sponsored by the Nedcor Foundation, was launched officially this week. The project is believed to be the first of its kind countrywide, and is expected to become a model for providing successful intervention to HIV-positive children and their parents or primary care givers - particularly to those whose children are in the last stages of the disease.
Through this groundbreaking project, counsellors have been trained to counsel HIV-positive children and their mothers/primary care givers, as well as their extended families during the children’s hospitalisation.
After they have been discharged from hospital, the children are followed up both telephonically and through house visits. They are also given access
to necessary resources like hospice and home care services, social grants, shelter for those who have been kicked out of their homes, and anti-abuse services for women and children.
Support groups have been established and primary caregivers are receiving specialised training in the care of HIV-positive children at home. This means that more children are remaining with their families even in the extreme stage of Aids, rather than being placed in institutionalised care. This has many obvious benefits for the children and their families, and takes the pressure off medical facilities.
To date, 541 cases have been counselled by the Cotlands team at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, each initial session generally leading to several follow-up sessions.
Their needs are not just medical
Cotlands executive director Jackie Schoeman says: "In simple terms, the initiative is providing a continuum of care services to children living with Aids and
their families by attending to the psycho-social, emotional and material needs of the children and their families, as a much-needed supplement to their medical needs.
"Care and support services generally available to South African children living with HIV/Aids are fragmented and uncoordinated. In a clinical environment the focus often is on the medical aspects only."
Head of the counselling project, Busi Nkosi, adds that material relief in the form of milk formula and clothing is also channelled wherever possible to the families being counselled.
Taking the burden off nurses
Head of Baragwanath’s Paediatric HIV Outpatients, Dr Tammy Meyer, says: "For some time we have perceived a need for extra counsellors with specific skills, such as bereavement counselling, at the hospital.
"The establishment of the counselling initiative with Cotlands has significantly alleviated the burden on our nursing counsellors in terms of pre- and
post-HIV test counselling, improving the support available to mothers of terminally ill children, who in the past sat for long hours next to their child’s bedside with no one to talk to or support them."
The Nedcor Foundation's Paul Pereira describes the Chris Hani Baragwanath Counselling Project as "a shining example not only in this country, but to the rest of the world, of how professionals across a spectrum of vocations can pull together to make a very powerful difference".
Source: Cotlands
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Cotlands
Situated in Turffontein, Johannesburg, Cotlands consists of a sanctuary for children in need of care or up for adoption, a hospice for children who are terminally ill with Aids, and a nursery school which caters to the educational needs of those in its care and from the surrounding community.
Cotlands also runs the Hlabisa Home Care project in KwaZulu-Natal, assisting those battling Aids at home. It has established Home Care projects in Soweto, Orange Farm, Alexandra and Tembisa, all in Gauteng.
Cotlands relies heavily on sponsorship, donations and assistance from volunteers. The organisation has several fund-raising activities, a charity
shop selling new and reconditioned goods, a cash draw competition, and a line of products on sale online. Visit their website for details, drop them an e-mail, or phone them on (011) 683 7200/1/2/3/4.
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Aids Helpline
0800 012 322
Frightened, confused by Aids? South Africa's Aids Helpline offers toll-free, multi-lingual assistance from trained counsellors accessing the latest data through a computerised call centre. Backed up by the Aids Helpline website.
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