Sbaffi, L. orcid.org/0000-0003-4920-893X, Zamani, E. orcid.org/0000-0003-3110-7495 and Kalua, K. orcid.org/0000-0001-9284-9009 (2023) Promoting well-being among informal caregivers of people with HIV/AIDS in rural Malawi: community-based participatory research approach. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25. e45440. ISSN 1438-8871
Abstract
Background:
People living with HIV/AIDS and their informal caregivers (usually family members) in Malawi do not have adequate access to patient-centered care, particularly in remote rural areas of the country because of the high burden of HIV/AIDS, coupled with a fragmented and patchy health care system. Chronic conditions require self-care strategies, which are now promoted in both developed and developing contexts but are still only emerging in sub-Saharan African countries.
Objective:
This study aims to explore the effects of the implementation of a short-term intervention aimed at supporting informal caregivers of people living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi in their caring role and improving their well-being. The intervention includes the dissemination of 6 health advisory messages on topics related to the management of HIV/AIDS over a period of 6 months, via the WhatsApp audio function to 94 caregivers attending peer support groups in the rural area of Namwera.
Methods:
We adopted a community-based participatory research approach, whereby the health advisory messages were designed and formulated in collaboration with informal caregivers, local medical physicians, social care workers, and community chiefs and informed by prior discussions with informal caregivers. Feedback on the quality, relevance, and applicability of the messages was gathered via individual interviews with the caregivers.
Results:
The results showed that the messages were widely disseminated beyond the support groups via word of mouth and highlighted a very high level of adoption of the advice contained in the messages by caregivers, who reported immediate (short-term) and long-term self-assessed benefits for themselves, their families, and their local communities.
Conclusions:
This study offers a novel perspective on how to combine community-based participatory research with a cost-effective, health-oriented informational intervention that can be implemented to support effective HIV/AIDS self-care and facilitate informal caregivers’ role.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Laura Sbaffi, Efpraxia Zamani, Khumbo Kalua. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 11.05.2023. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. |
Keywords: | informal caregivers; HIV/AIDS; rural Malawi; health advisory messages; mobile phone |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Information School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Apr 2023 16:31 |
Last Modified: | 15 May 2023 10:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | JMIR Publications Inc. |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.2196/45440 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:198623 |