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Respite care for HIV-affected families
1New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, New York, USA.
Insights
This study introduces an in-home respite care program for families with HIV-positive children. The program utilizes trained volunteers to support caregivers, addressing the challenges of childcare for children with HIV/AIDS.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric HIV/AIDS Care
- Social Work in Healthcare
- Volunteer Program Management
Background:
- In 1988, 1 in 61 newborns in NYC were HIV positive.
- Improved treatments allow HIV-positive children to live longer, often at home.
- Families with HIV-positive children frequently face caregiver stress and childcare challenges due to diagnosis disclosure concerns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe an innovative in-home respite care program for parents and caretakers of HIV-positive children.
- To outline strategies for recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers for this specialized respite care service.
Main Methods:
- Program coordination through a hospital's social work and volunteer departments.
- Development of specific strategies for volunteer recruitment.
- Implementation of training and supervision protocols for volunteers providing in-home care.
Main Results:
- The program offers crucial childcare assistance to overwhelmed families.
- It addresses the difficulty families face in finding childcare due to reluctance to disclose HIV status.
- The hospital-coordinated model facilitates the provision of specialized in-home support.
Conclusions:
- In-home respite care programs, coordinated by hospital social work and volunteer departments, can effectively support families with HIV-positive children.
- Structured volunteer recruitment, training, and supervision are key to successful implementation.
- This model provides a vital service, mitigating caregiver burden and improving quality of life for affected families.
Abstract:
Anonymous testing of all newborn infants in 1988 revealed that one of every 61 babies born in New York City was HIV positive (New York City Department of Health, 1988). With the availability of new treatment, HIV positive children are living longer, often into their school years, and most are able to live at home. The majority of children acquire HIV through maternal transmission. Frequently, multiple family members are HIV positive. Parents, or other caregivers, are overwhelmed by depression, anxiety and grief, and urgently need childcare assistance. Finding childcare is difficult since families are often reluctant to disclose the AIDS diagnosis to potential childcare workers. This article describes an innovative in-home respite care program for parents and caretakers of children who are HIV positive. The service is coordinated through a hospital's social work and volunteer departments. This article describes strategies to recruit, train and supervise volunteers to provide respite care for families with HIV positive children.