1. INTRODUCTION
The following goals are envisaged for the intervention:
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To empower women living with HIV with knowledge to enable them to make better choices about their own health and that
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To empower women with knowledge and skills to enable them to assist their children to become more resilient
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To empower women to improve their relationships
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To advocate for the rights of people living with HIV
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To reduce internalised and felt stigma
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To provide support and a referral system for women and children to services in the community
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To enhance the resilience and subsequent adaptive behaviour of children
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To enhance communication between the mothers and their children
of their child(ren)
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The Kgolo-Mmogo intervention is theoretically grounded and uses components of interventions already developed in African
communities. In the conceptual model of the intervention (figure 1) parental HIV disease and the high risk social environment are
seen as distal risk factors for poor child outcomes. The intervention includes two connected components. The first component is the
provision of support to mothers to address the psychological effects of the disease on themselves. The second component is aimed
at improving the parent's ability to communicate and interact with her child in an age-appropriate manner to improve her child's
adaptive functioning and to promote resilience.
The concept of resilience in childhood comes from studies of vulnerable children at risk for negative outcomes in which protective
factors counter risk effects and influence positive adaptation. Resilient children have been described as those who understand adverse
events, are able to give a deeper meaning to the adverse event and believe they can cope because they have some control over the
event.
In developing the intervention we have used the information and experience gathered in our own research working with AIDS affected
families in both South Africa and the United States, but also have incorporated the experience and methods used by others.
Figure 1: Conceptual Model for the Kgolo-Mmogo Intervention
Maternal HIV
Maternal Sequelae
Disease
Child-related Modifiers
and Mediators
Psychological
Internalized stigma
Depression
Self-esteem
Coping
Informed about HIV
Improved coping
Impaired parenting
Decreased anxiety
Decreased behavior
problems
Improved school
performance
INTERVENTION
HIV
Decreased depression
Internal locus of control
Environment
Intervention Programme for the ENHANCEMENT OF CHILDREN'S RESILIENCE
Improved adaptive
functioning
Improved self-esteem
and competence
Social Network
Constriction
High Risk Social
Child Outcomes
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