There is a well-documented evidence to confirm that the largest number of
people living with the HI-virus is in Africa and especially in South Africa. The
prospect of a significant breakthrough in treatment looks uncertain at present
and for this reason the impact of HIV and AIDS in South Africa must be taken
very seriously.
In 1999 surveys estimated about 3,5 million people infected by HIV and 150
000 with AIDS. The figure was expected to rise to 5-7 million HIV-infected
people over the next 5 years. Experts calculated that on average 1500 people
get infected each day in South Africa! South Africa has one of the most
rapidly spreading pandemics in the world.
High school learners are a high-risk group. Prevention programmes are
important to minimize the infection rate amongst adolescents and young
adults. The researcher has therefore concentrated on the prevention of
HIV/AIDS among learners at high school level in a rural area between the
ages 16-18 years.
A survey was undertaken with the purpose of preventing HIV/AIDS among
learners from the Thejane Secondary school in a rural area in Thaba Nchu.
The aim of this research was:
8 To evaluate the effectiveness of a group work programme for high
school learners in the prevention of HIV/AIDS in a rural area.
To reach this aim, a prevention programme was designed for these high
school learners through which knowledge about the nature of HIV/AIDS as
well as knowledge about values and attitudes were given to them. A small
group of ten learners were chosen as the research group and ten learners as
the control group. Group work as a method of social work was chosen to
achieve the aim of the study.
The group work programme was successfully presented in 9 sessions of one
to one and a half hour each during school time. The programme was in
particular suited, not only to improve the knowledge of the learners about the
nature of HIV/AIDS, but also to broaden their insight with regard to the
important role of a healthy lifestyle as well as the importance of being
assertive.
The programme was evaluated by measuring at two occasions. The results
obtained by this evaluation showed that the group work programme brought
about a significant difference in the knowledge, insight, attitudes and beliefs
about HIV/AIDS as well as the important role of values. The single system
design was used to measure the effect of the programme. The results of the
measuring indicated that group work intervention was successful in
implementing the desired change. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/624 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Sito, Mmapula Mary |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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