A qualitative evaluation of a stress management programme for HIV and AIDS home-based care workers in Tshwane, South Africa

Abstract

The HIV and AIDS pandemic resulted in increased demands on the South African healthcare system and contributed to elevated stress levels among healthcare workers, including home-based care workers. The goal of the study was to evaluate a stress management programme for HIV and AIDS home-based care workers in Tshwane, South Africa. Social constructionism was adopted as the theoretical framework of the study. The study implemented intervention research and adopted a qualitative research approach, specifically the instrumental case study. Non-probability sampling, specifically volunteer sampling was utilised to recruit a group of twelve HIV and AIDS home-based care workers (n = 12). The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and administered before and after exposure to the stress management programme. The research findings, based on thematic analysis, revealed that the programme was effective in mitigating the impact of stress experienced by the HIV and AIDS home-based care workers in Tshwane. Recommendations are proffered for the refinement of the newly developed stress management programme for implementation among HIV and AIDS home-based care workers in similar field settings.