Health promotion work among youth with HIV in Khayelitsha, South Africa : - An interview study

Abstract: Introduction: It is important to treat youth with HIV and their families appropriately and to understand what they are going through. How can health care professionals work to promote a good health for the HIV positive youth? Aim: Describe health care professionals´ health promotion work among youth with HIV in Khayelitsha, South Africa. Method: Qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was used to analyze the interviews. Results: The result was presented in one theme and three categories with eight associated subcategories. The main result was that Tender Loving Care is the core of the health promotion work. Another important factor is to encourage and support the patient as well as to give information. A holistic view of humanity is fundamental in health promotion work among youth with HIV in Khayelitsha, South Africa.  Discussion: It is important to promote a good health despite a chronic illness as HIV. Therefore, it is of great importance for health care professionals to have a sound knowledge of health promotion work regarding youth living with HIV. In Khayelitsha it is not always easy to target these youths and their families with health promotion work because of stigma in a dysfunctional society. The health promotion work for HIV occurs in the context of a dysfunctional society with damaged children and into that you put HIV. Conclusion: Health care professionals in Khayelitsha are struggling with multiple challenges in their health promotion work among youth. South Africa has been hard affected, even though apartheid ended in 1994 one can still see consequences from it. Poverty and prevalence of HIV is still high and it is an ongoing battle in the country to promote a good health among youth with HIV. One can not only look at the health promotion work without taking into account how the society looks.