A health education programme to enhance knowledge and communication skills of health care workers serving people living with HIV/AIDS on haart in Namibia
Namibian health care workers (health care workers) are affected in providing quality health care services to people who are living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) if they do not have the necessary knowledge, as well as adequate interpersonal communication and counselling skills. In a health care facility set-up, all patients either come from the community or are referred from the wards or other departments by health care workers. The health care worker as a (sender) conveys information (messages) and a patient (receiver) is expected to comprehend these messages and to respond by giving feedback to the sender who, in turn, provides feedback until the communication process is completed. The process should take place in a conducive environment without any interference, such as noise, to allow the swift completion of the communication process. The messages that both parties convey should be clear, accurate, coherent, and concise. The purpose of the study was to develop a health education programme that would enhance the communication skills and knowledge of health care workers serving PLWHA on HAART in Namibia. The intention was to develop a health education programme (HEP) for strengthening these skills. The population comprised two groups, namely health care workers and HAART patients. A purposive sampling method was used for selecting 23 health care workers and 20 HAART patients. Data was collected through focus group discussions with health care workers and in-depth interviews with HAART patients. Tesch in De Vos, Krueger’s and Casey (2009) theories guided the data analysis process. The programme was developed based on themes of the study and implemented by training health care workers and describing recommendations. Trustworthiness validation utilised data credibility, transferability, dependability, and conformability. Ethical measures were observed throughout the study. The researcher conducted the study in four phases. Phase I presented a needs assessment of the health care workers’ experiences in interpersonal communication, counselling skills, HIV / AIDS management and health knowledge of PLWHA on HAART. Phase II represented the conceptual framework to illustrate the study results that were supported by the emerged themes and sub-themes discussed in Phase I of the research. Phase III comprised the development of a health education programme that enhanced knowledge and communication skills of health care workers who serve PLWHA on highly active antiretroviral therapy in Namibia. Phase IV presented the implementation of HEP that included a training workshop for health care workers and an evaluation exercise after the implementation of the programme. Three main themes emerged during data analysis. Theme one indicated that health care workers experienced a lack of sufficient communication skills that was necessary for addressing the health concerns of PLWHA on HAART. Health care workers responses indicated that they had insufficient knowledge and inadequate communication and counselling skills to deal with health needs of the PLWHA on HAART. From their responses, it also transpired that health care institutions experienced a severe shortage of information, education, and communication (IEC) materials and other resources for curbing HIV / AIDS From Theme two, it emerged that health care workers experienced a lack of exposure to knowledge about HIV / AIDS management. It transpired that health care workers were not getting any support from their health institutions in developing knowledge or in-service training on HIV / AIDS management. It was also surprising to note that there were no guidelines that clearly assisted them in engaging or communicating with PLWHA on HAART. There was no structured supervision or quality assurance strategies that guided their superiors in monitoring their performance on the execution of daily activities, specifically in relation to HIV / AIDS Management. Theme three exposed the insufficient availability of health information to PLWHA on HAART. It transpired that HAART patients did not have access to information on HIV / AIDS aspects; such as HIV prevention, adherence to treatment of HIV, blood results, sexual relationships, alcohol abuse, and nutrition. HAART patients also emphasised their need to be empowered in managing self-disclosure, stigmatisation, and discrimination. The health education programme that enhanced the knowledge, as well as the communication and counselling skills of health care workers for communicating successfully with PLWHA on HAART was finally evaluated in accordance with the guidelines of Schiavo and Quinn’s (2007) evaluation process.
HIV/AIDS, Namibia, Health education programme, Communication skills, Health care workers
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations