Hove, Jennifer2014-03-312014-03-312014-03-31http://hdl.handle.net10539/14432In recent years, the need for health care has grown tremendously catching the health system unprepared. Home based care (HBC) programmes play a vital role as an overwhelmed public health care system fails to cope with the demand of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Patients in rural South Africa face social and economic hardships as a result of tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS and other chronic conditions due to limitations in health care access, shortages of health care workers and established inequities. The provision of home care by community care workers (CCW) has the potential to change the illness experience of people in rural communities when tailored to their specific needs. The aim of this study was to explore experiences of patients receiving HBC in a rural area of South Africa. Specific objectives: To describe perspectives of men and women receiving HBC on the origin and progression of their illness, to explore their perceived care-seeking behaviour in response to their illness experience, and to explore their perceived role of home caring in the context of home-based care in Bushbuckridge during the period of April to July 2010. Study design: Explorative in-depth qualitative study. Study site: Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Study population and Sample: 32 patients receiving home care in nine HBC organizations were purposefully selected. Excluded were patients too sick to be interviewed, below 18 years and without a primary care giver. Data Collection: Individual in-depth interviews were conducted to explore the following themes: personal experiences of being ill, services being provided by HBC, relationship between CCW, PCG and patient, experiences with CCW in regard to care they provide, challenges experienced and feelings about nature of care being provided. Data Analysis: Inductive codes were developed after reading the data to identify issues raised by participants. Inductive codes allowed for data to ‘speak for itself’. This process involved reading and re-reading the data to identify explicit codes. Interviews were broadly coded and framed within Suchman’s conceptual framework of illness experience. Results: The results shed light on the way in which illness was understood. Belief systems directly affect how participants understood symptoms and responded to illness. Participants’ experiences of illness was shaped by several needs, which included physical, medical, social, financial, physiological and emotional needs. Conclusion: In developing HBC programmes, it is important to consider the perceived needs of people with chronic illness in a rural community of Bushbuckridge, so that interventions can be tailored accordingly. The results of this study may help guide HBC programmes that uphold quality of care improvement and people-centred engagement in health care within rural communities.enThesis