M.A. / This study explores attitudes and fears of HIV counsellors towards HIV testing. A social constructionistic perspective was used to realize this objective. The researcher hoped to find out the following: what attitudes and fears do HIV counselors( who have not tested for HIV), have towards HIV testing? how the HIV counsellors’ attitudes and fears differ from those of the general population. the environmental factors affecting their decision, their vulnerability to HIV and what can facilitate their willingness to test. what strategies can be used (from the HIV counsellors’ point of view), to change those attitudes and alleviate those fears so that all HIV counsellors can be willing to undergo voluntary HIV testing. Tape recorded interviews were conducted with the HIV counsellors who have not tested for HIV. It was evident in the study that there are attitudes and fears towards HIV testing which are common to the HIV counselors and the general population, and those which are peculiar to HIV counselors because of the nature of their job. Also evident in the study is the fact that HIV counsellors are vulnerable to contracting HIV and therefore could reap the benefits of knowing their HIV status by undergoing the HIV test. The researcher together with the HIV counsellors co-designed strategies that will address those attitudes and fears so that HIV counsellors can be encouraged to undergo voluntary HIV testing. Since the study was conducted only in the community clinics, the findings cannot be generalized to all HIV counsellors. The recommendations based on the findings are that a similar study should be done and should cover a much wider and broader context to determine if such a study can yield similar results.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:14642 |
| Date | 11 November 2008 |
| Creators | Molefe, Matilda Nombuyiselo |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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