Experiences of community care givers caring for clients with tuberculosis in eThekwini district, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is still a leading cause of deaths in low and middle income countries especially Sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that around 70% of adult new cases of tuberculosis in South Africa are co-infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). TB is curable if the clients take a full uninterrupted course of drug therapy. Treatment interruption presents a problem for clients, their families, the community, and the health personnel caring for them. The National Department of Health (NDOH) introduced the community care giver (CCG) programme to assist health professionals with the control and management of TB. The study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of CCGs caring for TB patients and to identify the support systems available for them. A qualitative exploratory descriptive design was used to conduct the study. Purposive sampling, guided by data saturation, was used to select the 24 participants that were included in the study. The experiences of the CCGs included facing several challenges in caring for TB patients in the eThekwini district. The challenges were; insufficient work kits, failure to access protective clothing, exposure to communicable diseases, insufficient stipends, no career paths, poor supervision and support. Negative experiences of CCGs might have contributed to demoralisation and poor performance resulting into poor care given to TB patients in the communities.