The influence of antiretroviral medication on the lives of children in Botswana

Abstract

This study sought to appreciate the influence of antiretroviral medications on the daily lives of children in Botswana. The aim of the study was to explore and gain in-depth understanding of the influence that antiretroviral medications have on the children’s lives. The study focused on children receiving services from the Bamalete Lutheran Hospital in Ramotswa, Botswana. It is important to give children an opportunity to have their voices heard as not doing so might present missed opportunities for the various care and support services providers. The study was qualitative as it sought to come closer to the individual children and get their own personal perspective of the influence of medication on their lives. The phenomenological strategy was applied to derive the description from each participant. Although the study was mainly applied as hoping to add a dimension of the meaning of antiretroviral medication from the children’s perspective which would facilitate improvements on service delivery; it can also be seen to contribute toward the body of knowledge as there are limited literature resources in this area. The sampling method used in this study was purposive in order to ensure a variety of responses and an enriched understanding of how the participants perceived the influence of these medications. A few broad areas of discussion were developed to facilitate the one-to-one unstructured interview. The conclusion from this study is that children do have stories to share in terms of how they perceive the influence of antiretroviral medications in their lives. These stories need to be explored and understood to facilitate better targeted care and support services for them. The stories from the sixteen children interviewed in this study are herein reported as well as the conclusions and recommendations that followed them. The general theme from listening to the stories of the children is that children understand that they have to take the medications and that it helps to improve their health.