Teaching Rwandan Families to Care for People with AIDS at Home

ABSTRACT

AIDS causes disabling symptoms during its chronic and terminal phases. Families throughout the world, whether related to the patient by blood or affection, provide most of the personal care for him or her at home during these phases. Whether the family has access to advanced medical care or not, they can be taught simple comfort measures and nursing care skills that will improve the well-being of the patient. In Rwanda, a small country in east-central Africa, Red Cross volunteers were trained to teach these skills. The volunteers then returned to their villages to help local families. Six months later, 24 of these families were interviewed about the impact of the volunteers’ visits. Families indicated they had benefited from being taught the caregiving skills. They also appreciated the emotional support attendant to the volunteers’ visits. In summary, the training course enabled volunteers both to enhance family nursing care skills and to provide emotional support to families caring for people with AIDS at home. This training can also be used by volunteers to assist families caring for members ill with other endemic chronic infectious diseases.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Helen Schietinger

Helen Schietinger, MA, RN, is a member of the faculty of Howard University School of Nursing. She was a consultant to domestic and international agencies in policy development and training related to the care of people with AIDS and the prevention of HIV transmission when the work pertaining to this article was carried out.

Calle Almedal

Calle Almedal, RN, is Medical Coordinator in the International Department of the Norwegian Red Cross.

Bizimungu Nyirabalinda Marianne

Bizimungu Nyirabalinda Marianne, BSN, is a Research Nurse working with HTV-infected women in Kigali, Rwanda.

Ruruku Karekezi Jacqueline

Ruruku Karekezi Jacqueline, RN, is the instructor for the program to teach families to care for people with AIDS at Projet Info-SIDA of the Rwanda Red Cross.

Bodil Lawrence Ravn

Bodil Lawrence Ravn, BA, is Administrator of Projet Info-SIDA (AIDS Information Project) and the Norwegian Red Cross delegate to the Rwandese Red Cross, Kigali.