Evaluation of an intensive 'train-the-trainer' course in AIDS counselling in Zimbabwe

The anticipated increase in the number of people with HIV infection and AIDS in Zimbabwe, together with those who have associated worries, will place extra demands upon clinical and counselling services in the coming decade. To meet these demands, a wide range of health care staff will have to acquire specialist counselling skills. For this reason, an intensive two-day HIV/AIDS train-the-trainer counselling course was run at the Family Counselling Unit (FCU), Harare, in April 1990. The aim was to teach training and supervision skills in AIDS counselling so that those professionals with experience could confidently teach others counselling skills for people with HIV/AIDS. The structure, content and evaluation of the course are presented here. Overall, the course was positively evaluated by the 42 trainees who came from Harare and other towns in Zimbabwe. The different teaching activities (role play, discussion) and course objectives (to develop specialist skills, address diverse problems) were especially well thought of. However, a few trainees were critical of the teaching format and lack of time available for teaching. This training experience may help others in establishing courses for the training of trainers in AIDS counselling elsewhere.