African Livelihood; An Impetus to the Care of Children Living with HIV in Nigeria: A Qualitative Analysis

Achema, G. PhD

Department of Nursing Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Jos, Nigeria

*Correspondence

Achema, G. PhD

Tel: +2349060052310

Abstract

The cultural framework of African livelihood can influence the care given to the children living with HIV. The study aimed to analyze how African way of life in clan vitals tend to influence the care of children living with HIV in the Nigerian context. A grounded theory approach was adopted for this study with Strauss and Corbin's sequential analysis. Nurse practitioners, children living with HIV and their caregivers, and stakeholders practicing within the confines of HIV care participated in this study. Focus group discussions and interview methods were involved in the process of data collection. Strauss and Corbin's analytical sequence was adopted in the data analysis in a bid to project the codes and the emerging concepts. Major themes that emerged among the findings which positively impacts care include: Influence of communal living in healing the minds; children's integration in the cultural setting; friends/neighbors helping the sick and shared neighborly interaction and mutual help while the ones posing challenges to the care include: heightened poverty and inadequacy of resources within community structures; uninformed socio-cultural context with illiteracy and ignorance; and social stigma within the cultural framework. The study concluded that communal living is a crucial element in the parameters of assistive care provision to the children living with HIV on the African continent.

Keywords: African livelihood, Care, Children, HIV/AIDS, Cultural context, Impetus.