Community health workers' knowledge of Ubuntu informed care in tuberculosis, HIV, and AIDS in Gauteng province.

BACKGROUND

Community health workers (CHWs) work with community members who experience various health problems. They assist community members to lead a healthy life and achieve an acceptable health status. To achieve this, there is a need for CHWs to apply Ubuntu philosophy when providing care related tuberculosis (TB), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to assess CHW's knowledge of Ubuntu-informed Care in tuberculosis, HIV, and AIDS Services in Gauteng province, South Africa.

METHOD: A total of 380 CHWs were recruited from a district in Gauteng province to participate in a training on the management of TB, HIV and AIDS. A questionnaire with 40 multiple choice questions was administered to the CHWs before the training. SPSS version 28 was used to analyse the data.

RESULTS

The scores ranged from 9 to 33 out of 40 (M = 21.6, s.d. = 4.2). Out of the 380 participants, 274 (72.1%) passed the pretest while 106 participants (27.9%) failed. The highest mean scores were achieved by female participants (M = 21.6, s.d. = 4.3), participants aged 21-30 years (M = 21.8, s.d. = 4.1) and participants with additional course qualification after Grade 12 (M = 23.5, s.d. = 3.4).

CONCLUSION

The findings highlight the need for targeted training interventions to improve the knowledge of CHWs on TB, HIV and AIDS.Contribution: This study adds to the literature on the need for inclusion of Ubuntu when caring for people living with HIV and TB.