HIV/AIDS : knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of workers in a local municipality
Abstract
INTRODUCTION - The world has been presented with a challenge of curbing the spread of HIV and the subsequent killer, AIDS. In the past twenty years, the epidemic has spread through out the world at a very rapid pace and so fir, over 20 million people have died from AIDS.
Sub-Saharan Africa has been the hardest hit region; currently there are over 25 million
people who are infected with the virus in this region and 10 million have died. In South
Mica, the spread of the epidemic has also been rife. As it now stands, there are 5 million South Africans who are HIV positive with the virus and 1 million people die every year due to AIDS. South Africa presents a unique case in that there are particular factors that facilitate the spread of the epidemic. Migrant labour, high levels of illiteracy, poverty and very unequal socio-economic conditions are some of the factors that have led to the spread of the epidemic. Since the collapse of apartheid, HIV/AIDS has proven to be South Africa's greatest challenge.
Within the workplace, the pandemic is bound to cause chaos. To date, South Africa has felt the very devastating effects of the epidemic and millions of rands have been lost in productivity. It is without a doubt hat in the workplace, HIV/AIDS presents various challenges for both management and employees. Both parties have specific interests and these interests should be protected at all times. Prevention programs that are in place have failed to have the desired effects mainly because they have not sought to challenge the attitudes and perceptions of those people they are targeting. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY - The aim of the study is to examine the attitudes, perceptions of workers in a local
municipality. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES CAN BE SUMMARISED AS FOLLOWS: - To investigate the extent to which traditional belief systems inform attitudes, perceptions and behaviours of employees towards HIV/AIDS. To explore how people's attitudes and perceptions regarding the virus influence their responses towards HIV.
To investigate the effectiveness of the awareness program run by the municipality
in raising awareness about the epidemic,
To assist the municipality in identifying training needs of its workers when it comes to HIV education and to make recommendations based on the outcomes of the study. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - The research is divided into pans, namely the literature review and the empirical study. The literature review highlighted the state of the epidemic worldwide and in South Africa. A theoretical background was also provided in order to put behaviour into
perspective. The empirical study was deigned to be qualitative in nature and a questionnaire was developed for this purpose. The researcher used semi-structured personal interviews to collect data. Once all data was collected, open and axial coding were used to categorise data that has been collected. Data was then analysed according to the categories identified in the codins process. MAJOR FINDINGS - There were several key findings of the study and they can be summarized as follows: Knowledge about HIV/AIDS did not necessarily mean that those who are exposed to information will make appropriate behaviour modification. Limited knowledge about the virus also meant that people were not able to make correctly informed decisions. There seems to be confusion about whether or not HIV is curable. There is a perception amongst the majority of the participants that HIV is curable by traditional
doctors and there was also a group of participants who believe that HIV not curable.
This finding indicates that there is still a lot of work to be done in disseminating the correct information. Condom use is very rarely an individual choice; it is based on many factors such as social pressures, socially constructed sexual identities, sexual power relations and to
some extent cultural influences. At most times, sexual behaviour is not shaped by individual choices but rather by social pressures. Furthermore, condom use is to a large extent based on power relations. In sexual relationships, it is the prerogative of the man to decide on whether to use a condom and the woman has very little choice in such situations.
There is still stigma and discrimination following those who are infected with HIV/AIDS since the disease public two decades ago. HIV has always been thought to be a disease for the promiscuous and this is the perception that many of the participants still have regarding who are infected with the virus. Lastly, offering training in the workplace is one area that is lacking and is one of the things that the participants alluded to. The majority of the majority of the participants in the study had never received training from the employer. The participants indicated they indeed need training.
CONCLUSION - HIV/AIDS is a subject that is very difficult to comprehend; it has been difficult to curb its spread and it has brought the world to its knees. It has always been thought that
providing education will ensure that those who are exposed to the information will modify their behaviour accordingly but the findings of the study show that this is not guaranteed. Education, exposure to those who are infected with HIV and individual choice seem to present the best combination in encouraging behaviour modification. Also, condom use has been shown to be dependent on a variety of factors that have very little to do with individual choice. Subjective norms in society, attitudes of significant others and the way in which condoms have been misrepresented are the crucial factors that need to be addressed in order to change the attitudes towards condoms. In order to win the battle against the epidemic, all possible resources should be directed towards fighting the epidemic. The world has been presented with a challenge of curbing the spread of HIV and the subsequent killer, AIDS. In the past twenty years, the epidemic has spread through out the world at a very rapid pace and so fir, over 20 million people have died from AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa has been the hardest hit region; currently there are over 25 million
people who are infected with the virus in this region and 10 million have died. In South
Mica, the spread of the epidemic has also been rife. As it now stands, there are 5 million South Africans who are HIV positive with the virus and 1 million people die every year due to AIDS. South Africa presents a unique case in that there are particular factors that facilitate the spread of the epidemic. Migrant labour, high levels of illiteracy, poverty and very unequal socio-economic conditions are some of the factors that have led to the spread of the epidemic. Since the collapse of apartheid, HIV/AIDS has proven to be South Africa's greatest challenge.
Within the workplace, the pandemic is bound to cause chaos. To date, South Africa has felt the very devastating effects of the epidemic and millions of rands have been lost in productivity. It is without a doubt hat in the workplace, HIV/AIDS presents various challenges for both management and employees. Both parties have specific interests and these interests should be protected at all times. Prevention programs that are in place have failed to have the desired effects mainly because they have not sought to challenge the attitudes and perceptions of those people they are targeting. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY - The aim of the study is to examine the attitudes, perceptions of workers in a local
municipality. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES CAN BE SUMMARISED AS FOLLOWS: - To investigate the extent to which traditional belief systems inform attitudes, perceptions and behaviours of employees towards HIV/AIDS. To explore how people's attitudes and perceptions regarding the virus influence their responses towards HIV.
To investigate the effectiveness of the awareness program run by the municipality
in raising awareness about the epidemic,
To assist the municipality in identifying training needs of its workers when it comes to HIV education and to make recommendations based on the outcomes of the study. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY - The research is divided into pans, namely the literature review and the empirical study. The literature review highlighted the state of the epidemic worldwide and in South Africa. A theoretical background was also provided in order to put behaviour into
perspective. The empirical study was deigned to be qualitative in nature and a questionnaire was developed for this purpose. The researcher used semi-structured personal interviews to collect data. Once all data was collected, open and axial coding were used to categorise data that has been collected. Data was then analysed according to the categories identified in the coding process. MAJOR FINDINGS - There were several key findings of the study and they can be summarized as follows: Knowledge about HIV/AIDS did not necessarily mean that those who are exposed to information will make appropriate behaviour modification. Limited knowledge about the virus also meant that people were not able to make correctly informed decisions. There seems to be confusion about whether or not HIV is curable. There is a perception amongst the majority of the participants that HIV is curable by traditional
doctors and there was also a group of participants who believe that HIV not curable.
This finding indicates that there is still a lot of work to be done in disseminating the correct information. Condom use is very rarely an individual choice; it is based on many factors such as social pressures, socially constructed sexual identities, sexual power relations and to
some extent cultural influences. At most times, sexual behaviour is not shaped by individual choices but rather by social pressures. Furthermore, condom use is to a large extent based on power relations. In sexual relationships, it is the prerogative of the man to decide on whether to use a condom and the woman has very little choice in such situations.
There is still stigma and discrimination following those who are infected with HIV/AIDS since the disease public two decades ago. HIV has always been thought to be a disease for the promiscuous and this is the perception that many of the participants still have regarding who are infected with the virus. Lastly, offering training in the workplace is one area that is lacking and is one of the things that the participants alluded to. The majority of the majority of the participants in the study had never received training from the employer. The participants indicated they indeed need training.
CONCLUSION - HIV/AIDS is a subject that is very difficult to comprehend; it has been difficult to curb its spread and it has brought the world to its knees. It has always been thought that
providing education will ensure that those who are exposed to the information will modify their behaviour accordingly but the findings of the study show that this is not guaranteed. Education, exposure to those who are infected with HIV and individual choice seem to present the best combination in encouraging behaviour modification.
Also, condom use has been shown to be dependent on a variety of factors that have very
little to do with individual choice. Subjective norms in society, attitudes of significant
others and the way in which condoms have been misrepresented are the crucial factors
that need to be addressed in order to change the attitudes towards condoms. In order to
win the battle against the epidemic, all possible resources should be directed towards
fighting the epidemic.