AIDSImpact.com:: - Santa Fe, USA 2011

Abstract #106 - Community-based group home: an optimal care arrangement for AIDS orphans in rural China
Authors: Presenting Author: Dr. Yan Hong - Texas A&M Health Science Center
Additional Authors: Dr. Xiaoming Li, Dr. Guoqiang Zhao, Dr. Junfeng Zhao,
Aim: Recent literature on care arrangement of AIDS orphans in resource-poor settings indicates that community-based group home is a better care model compared to orphanage or kinship care. Our recent study in rural China also found that children in group homes had better psychological, physical and educational outcomes compared to children in other care models. However, limited data are available about the group homes in rural China and why it is an optimal care arrangement for AIDS orphans. The current study aims to fill out the literature gap and provide a “thick description” of group homes through qualitative investigation.
Method / Issue: Ethnographic observation was conducted in the rural areas of Henan Province in China that were hardly hit by HIV/AIDS. In-depth interviews were conducted with 8 group home families including 15 children and 8 caregivers. All field notes and interview transcripts were analyzed using Atlas ti.
Results / Comments: Group homes for AIDS orphans were built within the villages where children had lived and were closed to the schools. Each family had parents who were volunteers from the same community that met the certain criteria including education, health conditions and experiences of caring for children. Each family hosts 4-7 children from neighboring villages. Children in the group home call each other brother and sister and their caregivers mother or father. Children reported that they have built strong bonds with their “siblings” and “parents”; they were grateful that they could stay in their hometown and be cared by local people; the closeness of children of similar experiences also soothed the negative experiences of losing parents to AIDS. Caregivers reported positive experiences of serving as parents for these children, citing support from local government and other NGOs.
Discussion: Community-based orphan care allows orphans to remain integrated into their community and delivers services and care through existing social structures and networks. This model may be an optimal care arrangement for AIDS orphans in poor resource settings.
Go Back