The perceptions of occupational social workers about how their service provision has been affected by HIV/AIDS in the workplace since 1995

Abstract

The study aimed at exploring the perceptions of occupational social workers on how their service provision has been affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The focus was on whether they thought that the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the workplace had led to a shift in their service provision. That was done through: - An investigation of ways in which social worker’s service provision has had to be adjusted in the context of HIV/AIDS in the workplace. - An assessment of the extent to which occupational social workers perceive their HIV/AIDS services at macro level to be acknowledged as valuable by management and the workforce. - An exploration of perceptions of occupational social workers on how HIV/AIDS has affected their relationship with management The research was quantitative and qualitative in approach and the design used was descriptive. Various sectors like manufacturing, government departments, para-statal, military and finance that employ social workers were identified. A list of occupational social workers was obtained from the School of Social Work, University of the Witwatersrand and from the Gauteng EAP Association. A non-probability sample of twenty seven social workers participated in the study. Semi structured interviews lasting for approximately forty five minutes were used as a form of data collection. Data collected was analysed through simple descriptive statistics and development of core themes and common concerns. The findings indicated that most occupational social workers perceived their services not to have been affected by HIV/AIDS, management and employees to have regarded their HIV/AIDS macro practice as valuable and their relationship with management have not been affected negatively by HIV/AIDS.