Suchergebnisse

Leaving a familiar environment can be daunting. Although previous studies investigated the experiences of youths who left care centres, few considered those who left during the Covid-19 pandemic. For this exploratory qualitative research study, we purposively recruited 12 African youths aged between 18 and 23, with least two years' experience of life in the care centres of Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality to investigate their experiences when they left suchcentres during the Covid-19 pandemic. The data were collected through individual semistructured interviews, analysed according to Akinyonde and Khan's thematic analysis method, and verified using Guba and Lincoln's strategies. The findings revealed experiences that were clustered into three themes: preparing to leave, reflecting on life at the centre, and transiting from care during Covid-19. The recommendations proposed include the need to facilitate exitstrategies for these youths, clear follow-up plans to support them, and collaboration of practitioners in the field of child and youth care. Keywords: child and youth care centre, Covid-19, experiences, social work, youths

Mining operations are envisaged to improve the conditions of members of their host communities (communities where they operate) by creating employment opportunities, developing infrastructure and enhancing their wellbeing. Yet despite these operations, research shows that these communities are underdeveloped and impoverished, and women are more severely affected than men. As an advocate for social justice, social work is instrumental in addressing these impacts, particularly through scientific research. This qualitative social work study explored the experiences and challenges of women residing in the Driekop mining community of Limpopo province, South Africa. The findings revealed that women experience both the benefits and challenges associated with these mining operations. Keywords: challenges, experiences, mining community, social work, women

Community home-based caregivers caring for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWHIV) are instrumental in relieving the demand pressures experienced by healthcare service centers. Although their contributions to the healthcare system are essential, they do so under difficult conditions necessitating social work support. This study was conducted in the Gauteng province of South Africa in 2017 to explore the occupational challenges faced by community home-based care caregivers of PLWHIV. Following the qualitative research approach, eighteen caregivers were identified and sampled using purposive and snowball sampling techniques in semi-structured interviews. The data was manually analyzed according to Tesch's eight steps of qualitative data analysis. This gave rise to four themes: reception by community members, uncooperative clients and families, unsupportive healthcare professionals, and working in unsafe conditions. Following relevant ethical principles such as informed consent, confidentiality, and anonymity throughout the study, trustworthiness was continuously upheld through the principles of prolonged engagement, triangulation, member checking, thick description, and audit trail. The need for psychosocial support programs for caregivers, community and family educational programs, and strengthening partnerships for caregivers, communities, and healthcare professionals is recommended, given the success of community home-based care (CHBC) services for PLWHIV.