Page 97 - SAHCS HIVMed Journal Vol 20 No 1 2019

Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine
ISSN: (Online) 2078-6751, (Print) 1608-9693
Page 1 of 6 Original Research

Targeted mentoring for human immunodeficiency

virus programme support in South Africa

Authors: Background: Mentoring is a required component of health systems strengthening technical
Geoffrey Jobson 1 assistance interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Mentoring is useful
Moyahabo Mabitsi 1
Jean Railton 1 because it does not necessarily compromise service delivery and promotes the sharing of
Cornelis J. Grobbelaar 1 newly acquired knowledge and skills. However, there is a lack of research on the implementation
James A. McIntyre of mentoring in the context of the HIV epidemic in southern Africa.
1,2
Helen E. Struthers
1,3
Remco P.H. Peters 1 Objectives: This qualitative evaluation focussed on understanding the implementation
process of targeted mentoring for clinical practice, data management and pharmacy
Affiliations:
1 Anova Health Institute, management, at public health care facilities in South Africa; and on identifying critical factors
South Africa influencing the effectiveness of mentoring as a technical assistance intervention in this context.
Methods: Purposive sampling was used to select participants from public health facilities in
2 School of Public Health and
Family Medicine, University three South African Provinces. Participants were invited to take part in structured interviews.
of Cape Town, South Africa Datawere analysed using thematic analysis, and two core themes were identified: mentoring
as knowledge and skills transfer; and mentoring as psychosocial support.
3 Division of Infectious
Diseases and HIV Medicine, Results: In terms of knowledge and skills transfer, the sequential implementation of proactive
Department of Medicine, and reactive mentoring was critical. Initial proactive mentoring involved mentors initiating
University of Cape Town, training and developing professional relationships with mentees. Thereafter, a reactive
South Africa
mentoring phase allowed mentees to request support when required. This enabled mentors to
Corresponding author: leverage real-world problems faced by health workers to support their implementation of new
Geoffrey Jobson, knowledge and skills. The availability and accessibility of mentors alongside the relationships
[email protected] between mentors and mentees provided psychosocial support for health care workers which
Dates: facilitated their self-efficacy in implementing new knowledge and skills.
Received: 18 May 2018
Accepted: 16 Nov. 2018 Conclusion: These findings suggest that the success of mentoring programmes in LMICs may
Published: 14 Feb. 2019 require specific attention to both knowledge transfer and the management of interpersonal
relationships.
How to cite this article:
Jobson G, Mabitsi M, Railton J,
et al. Targeted mentoring for Introduction
human immunodeficiency
virus programme support in The mentoring of clinical staff has become an important aspect of the human immunodeficiency
South Africa. S Afr J HIV Med.
2019;20(1), a873. https://doi. virus (HIV) response in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Using mentors to
org/10.4102/sajhivmed. support local staff enables implementing agencies and governments to target specific cadres of
v20i1.873 health workers to develop and entrench the skills and knowledge required to successfully

1
Copyright: implement interventions. Mentoring has also played an important role in supporting task shifting
© 2019. The Authors. of particular functions from doctors to mid-level staff such as nurses, counsellors and medical
Licensee: AOSIS. This work officers. Using mentoring as a component of technical assistance interventions is beneficial because
1
is licensed under the it does not compromise service delivery and promotes the sharing of newly acquired knowledge
Creative Commons
2
Attribution License. and skills. Ndwiga et al. also note that workplace mentorship has been found to increase confidence
and self-esteem, decrease stress and conflict, and improve job satisfaction among mentees. 2
While mentoring has the potential to significantly improve service provision, there are a number
of important features of the mentor-mentee relationship that may affect the relative success of
such programmes. Straus et al. for example, found that successful mentoring relationships were
characterised by reciprocity, mutual respect, clear expectations, a personal connection and shared
values. 3
Read online:
Read online:
Scan this QR
Scan this QR Factors related to the context of local health systems may also affect the success or failure of
code with your
code with your mentoring initiatives. In Kenya, for example, Ndwiga et al. found that the effectiveness of
smart phone or
smart phone or
mobile device mentoring was affected by erratic supplies of medication and commodities, high client caseloads
mobile device
to read online.
to read online.
and staff shortages. 2
http://www.sajhivmed.org.za 90 Open Access