Page 401 - HIVMED_v21_i1.indb

Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine
ISSN: (Online) 2078-6751, (Print) 1608-9693
Page 1 of 13 Original Research

Empowering parents for human immunodeficiency

virus prevention: Health and sex education at home

Authors: Background: Improving health literacy amongst human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-
1,2
Taygen Edwards positive mothers could strengthen child and adolescent HIV prevention. The Amagugu
Ntombizodumo
Mkwanazi intervention included health literacy materials to strengthen maternal communication and has
3,4
Joanie Mitchell 5 demonstrated success in low-resource HIV-endemic settings.
Ruth M. Bland 6,7,8
4,9
Tamsen J. Rochat Objectives: Our aims were to (1) evaluate whether Amagugu materials improved health
literacy leading to changes in parental behaviour towards communicating on topics such as
Affiliations: HIV, health behaviours and sex education, and (2) explore what additional information and
1 Africa Health Research
Institute, Somkhele, materials mothers would find helpful.
South Africa Method: The Amagugu evaluation included 281 HIV-positive mothers and their HIV-
uninfected children (6–10 years). Process evaluation data from exit interviews were analysed
2 Liggins Institute, University
of Auckland, Auckland, using content analysis and logistic regression techniques.
New Zealand
Results: Of 281 mothers, 276 (98.0%) requested more educational storybooks: 99 (35.2%) on
3 Human and Social moral development/future aspirations, 92 (32.7%) on general health, safety and health
Capabilities Division, Human promotion, and 67 (23.8%) on HIV and disease management. Compared to baseline, mothers
Sciences Research Council, reported that the materials increased discussion on the risks of bullying from friends (150;
Durban, South Africa 53.4%), teacher problems (142; 50.5%), physical abuse (147; 52.3%) and sexual abuse (126;
44.8%). Most mothers used the ‘HIV Body Map’ for health (274; 97.5%) and sex education (267;
4 DSI-NRF Centre of
Excellence in Human 95.0%). The use of a low-cost doll was reported to enhance mother–child communication by
Development, Faculty of increasing mother–child play (264; 94.3%) and maternal attentiveness to the child’s feelings
Health Sciences, University (262; 93.6%).
of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, South Africa Conclusion: Parent-led health education in the home seems feasible, acceptable and effective
and should be capitalised on in HIV prevention strategies. Further testing in controlled studies
5 Lentegeur Psychiatric is recommended.
Hospital, Department of
Health, Government of the Keywords: health education; sex education; intervention materials; HIV prevention; HIV-
Western Cape, Cape Town, uninfected children; parent–child communication.
South Africa
6 Royal Hospital for Sick
Children, Glasgow, Scotland Introduction
Prevention of paediatric and adolescent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a global priority.
1
7 Institute of Health and
Wellbeing, University of In South Africa, substantial investment in reducing vertical transmission of HIV has led to more
2
Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland children being born HIV-negative. However, the rate of new infections, particularly amongst
adolescents, remain high. 3,4
8 School of Public Health,
University of the
Witwatersrand, Children who are HIV-negative but have an HIV-positive parent are especially vulnerable. Some
Johannesburg, South Africa evidence has shown that parental HIV may be associated with increased sexual risk behaviour
and HIV infection amongst HIV-exposed or HIV-affected adolescents. Although the process by
5,6
9 SAMRC Developmental which these risks may be conferred (i.e. parenting, parental illness, parental death) is still unclear,
Pathways to Health Research it is plausible, given international evidence, that at least some of these effects may occur as a
Unit (DPHRU), Faculty of 7,8,9,10
Health Sciences, University consequence of parenting capacity or the absence thereof. The proportion of South African
of the Witwatersrand, children who live with a parent infected with HIV is large and the burden on the South African
4
Johannesburg, South Africa health system is high, thus limiting the feasibility of providing parental health literacy training
11
in primary health or HIV treatment care settings. Therefore, it is important to consider task
12
shifting to lay workers as a means to deliver training and education that enable HIV-positive
Read online:
Read online:
Scan this QR Corresponding author: Tamsen Rochat, [email protected]
Scan this QR
code with your
code with your Dates: Received: 19 Mar. 2019| Accepted: 24 Nov. 2019 | Published: 29 June 2020
smart phone or
smart phone or
mobile device
mobile device How to cite this article: Edwards T, Mkwanazi N, Mitchell J, Bland RM, Rochat TJ. Empowering parents for human immunodeficiency virus
prevention: Health and sex education at home. S Afr J HIV Med. 2020;21(1), a970. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhivmed.v21i1.970
to read online.
to read online.
Copyright: © 2020. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
http://www.sajhivmed.org.za 393 Open Access