HIV/AIDS counselling program : a rural Ghana experience

This paper describes an HIV/AIDS counselling training program which has run for two-and-ahalf years at the Holy Family Hospital, Berekum. The training is designed to teach paraprofessionals active listening skills to cope with the spiritual and emotional dimension of the person who is HIV-positive. Parallel to this training, the Hospital established counselling services which have been extended to include home visiting. Difficulties have been the need for emotional support of counsellors, a lack of time and staff, and the lack of financial resources. The overall success of the program, however, has indicated that this form of counselling training is an effective way of addressing the emotional care of persons with HIV/AIDS