Caring for people with HIV/AIDS : a qualitative study of motivations and experiences of voluntary care workers in South Africa

Abstract

This study seeks to explore the motivations and experiences of voluntary care workers for people living with HIV/AIDS in semi-rural Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Social capital offers a framework for investigation, and the main focus is on the positive experiences of volunteering. Twelve Zulu women from groups of volunteers in Clermont and Impola (townships), having at least one year of experience, were recruited. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were carried out, and the responses were thematically analysed. Among motivations for volunteering three themes were evident: Community concern, love for people and ubuntu , Gain and share knowledge , and Work satisfaction . The volunteers had both negative and positive feelings and experiences related to their work. They talked about hardships and challenges in the work, but also a great deal about rewards, personal growth, and how they would like to continue doing this care work in the future. Exploring how the volunteers perceive and draw up on social capital in relation to their care work revealed that networks are a vital source of social support, trust and solidarity are important, feelings of empowerment were evident, and suggestions for how the government could improve HIV/AIDS care and support in the communities were proposed. A discussion of how we can understand the relation between the motivation, the positive experiences and social capital in this South African context was presented, and finally implications and recommendations for how the volunteers can be better supported were made.