Stephan Geyer

Voices of HIV & AIDS-affected educators: how they are psychosocially affected and how REds enabled their resilience

Abstract The aim of this article is to hear the voices of HIV- and AIDS-affected educators regarding their experiences of the psychosocial effect that the HIV and AIDS pandemic has on them as well as to voice their experiences of how Resilient Educators (REds), a support programme to enable educators affected by HIV and AIDS towards resilience, enabled them. A qualitative study was undertaken with 100 affected educators from different provinces in South Africa. Open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data prior to and after exposure to REds. The results suggested that the pandemic had a devastating effect not only at a professional level, but also at all the personal levels of educators’ well-being, namely, at an emotional, spiritual, physical and social level. However, the results also indicated that REds empowered them to cope more resiliently with the overwhelming personal and professional impacts of living and teaching in an HIV- and AIDS-altered milieu. It thus seems as if REds, as an empowering programme, has the potential to become a valuable protective resource in an educational context that is HIV-lacerated.

Visual methodology to build a resilient ‘communitas’

‘Resilient Educators’ (REds) is a group intervention programme designed to empower teachers affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and is research in progress. In 2007, 99 participants from various primary and high schools from three South African provinces were involved in a community-based intervention. A one-group pre-test, post-test design was utilised to explore participant associations of HIV/AIDS. Visual data were collected in the form of drawings: participants drew symbols of their perception of the pandemic and explained the meaning of their artefacts either in writing, or by speaking about them. A qualitative comparison of these visual data suggested that most participants had altered their associations. Prior to participation in REds, most participants projected disempowering associations. Following their participation, most participant projections suggested some self-empowerment and community-mindedness, although some participants still made associations with death and grief. We conclude that ther...

Sterkteperspektief op bemagtigende maatskaplike groepwerk met alkoholafhanklike bejaardes

In hierdie artikel word daar by die kenmerke van die sterkteperspektief asook die houdings en persepsies van maatskaplike werkers teenoor die perspektief stilgestaan. In die teks word die agtergrond van die sterkteperspektief, die sterktes van alkoholafhanklike bejaardes, die rol van die perspektief in geregistreerde behandelingsentra in Suid-Afrika asook die voor- en nadele van die perspektief onder meer toegelig. Die doelwitte van hierdie artikel is (a) om deur middel van literatuurstudie en empiriese ondersoek die uitdagings, sterktes en behoeftes van alkoholafhanklike bejaardes te identifiseer waarop ’n maatskaplike groepwerk-bemagtigingsprogram gebaseer kan word, en (b) vas te stel oor watter kwaliteite die sterkteperspektief beskik ten einde die alkoholafhanklike bejaarde met maatskaplike groepwerkdienste te bemagtig.

A content analysis of the South African national drug master plan: Lessons for aligning policy with social development

If drug policies, such as the South African National Drug Master Plan 2006-2011 (NDMP2), are drafted according to a social developmental perspective, the efforts of stakeholders could be strengthened to mitigate substance abuse, eradicate drug-related crimes, and contribute towards achieving social development goals. This study determined whether the NDMP2 is drafted in accordance with a social development perspective. Quantitative research, with content analysis as research strategy, was adopted to determine whether indicators of social development are embedded in the manifest content of the NDMP2. Results show the NDMP2 has both strengths and limitations when interpreted from a social development perspective.

Students’ Voices on the Involvement of Social Workers in Services Related to Problematic Internet Use

Worldwide the internet is increasingly used for personal, academic and work-related purposes. Extensive internet use could result in Problematic Internet Use (PIU). Students, often young adults, are identified as a potential risk group for PIU. Social work has a long history of involvement with services related to addiction and PIU falls within this domain. A hiatus was identified in terms of the voice of students, as service users, on the involvement of social workers in services related to PIU within the university environment. Based on convenience sampling, a survey was undertaken with 498 second-year students enrolled for a basic social science course at a South African university. Data were collected by means of a survey, including an open-ended question, with the aim to explore students’ perceptions of and suggestions for the involvement of social workers in services related to PIU. Based on the findings, integrated primary and secondary social work methods on the levels of prevention, early intervention, treatment and aftercare are recommended. Recommendations include awareness campaigns, community education, policy development, skills training, individual counselling, therapy groups and aftercare services to ensure the sustainability of the gains from previous interventions.

THE AFTERCARE NEEDS OF NYAOPE USERS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: IMPLICATIONS FOR AFTERCARE AND REINTEGRATION SERVICES

Nyaope is a relatively new drug on the South African market and mostly (mis)used by youths. Without targeted intervention, this drug could negatively affect the wellbeing of the people involved. Aftercare and reintegration services are often downplayed, with little emphasis in both research and practice. This article reports on the aftercare needs of nyaope users from both the users’ and the significant others’ points of view in Hammanskraal (a South African township). A collective case study was implemented through semi-structured interviews with both nyaope users and significant others. Recommendations are offered to role players involved in aftercare and reintegration services.

The perceptions of community members regarding the role of social workers in enhancing social capital in metropolitan areas to manage HIV and AIDS

Social welfare policies mandate social workers to build social capital in order to, amongst other things, manage the impact of HIV and AIDS on communities. However, the views of community members residing in metropolitan areas about the roles that social worker could perform in enhancing social capital to manage HIV and AIDS are inadequately described. One comprehensive focus group discussion was conducted with 10 community members representing four NPOs involved in HIV and AIDS work across the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni Metros. Recommendations are made to social workers to enhance social capital, and guidelines and strategies offered to fulfil this obligation through developmental social work.

EXPOSURE TO SUBSTANCE USE IN THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT: THE EXPERIENCES OF ADOLESCENTS IN THE TSHWANE METROPOLE

The premise of this study is that if exposure to substance use in the social environment of adolescents is understood, macro interventions could be recommended to promote adolescents’ right to live in a safe and sustainable environment. The aim of the study was to explore adolescents’ experiences of exposure to substance use in their social environment, other than the home. A qualitative research approach was adopted and 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Adolescent participants, of both genders between 11 and 18 years, were recruited across the Tshwane Metropole. The Social Learning Theory (SLT) underpinned this study as it offers concepts and principles for understanding how social environmental factors impact on adolescents’ behaviour. Key findings indicated that exposure to substance use are highly prevalent amongst adolescents in the Tshwane Metropole and could be normalised in their social reality. Recommendations are offered for appropriate macro interventions in line with a developmental approach.

KHOMANANI: AN HIV AND AIDS COMMUNITY MOBILISATION PROGRAMME FOR RESOURCE-CONSTRAINED SETTINGS

An overview of HIV and AIDS statistics indicates that there were 31.6 million people living with HIV in 2010, and that 68% of those people were from Sub-Saharan Africa (UNAIDS, 2011:07). In South Africa, one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, HIV prevalence among people between the ages of 15 and 49 has stabilised at 17.8%, with the absolute number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) showing a steep increase of approximately 100 000 additional PLHIV each year. The number of people aged 15 and older living with HIV is estimated to be 5 300 000. These figures actually mean that one out of every six people with HIV in the world lives in South Africa (UNAIDS, 2011:21). The authors therefore postulate that these statistics encapsulate the devastation that HIV and AIDS is causing, particularly in South Africa, which arguably carries the heaviest HIV and AIDS burden in the world. Initially South Africa’s efforts to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS were characterised by programme designs which followed an inflexible biomedical approach that did not focus on the influence of socio-economic and structural factors in addressing the pandemic. This situation, among others, contributed to raise the country’s HIV infection growth rate to among the highest in the world (Kahn, 2006:4).