The experiences of caregivers looking after a child living with HIV and AIDS in rural Malawi

The aim of this study was to examine how caregivers manage their day-to-day living and health care needs, care for themselves and their sick children with HIV and AIDS in rural Malawi. The study used a longitudinal descriptive qualitative research design, using the “lens” of a narrative analysis theoretical framework to explore the experiences of caregivers looking after a child living with HIV and AIDS in rural Malawi. In-depth Interviews (IDIs) with women caregivers (n=20) recruited from Mponela Rural Hospital catchment area were conducted and all twenty women caregivers participated in in-depth interviews. Direct Observations (DOs) of the environment where interviews were conducted and at a local rural hospital were used to explore the primary care and support available for these women caregivers and their children. Data were analysed manually using the thematic analysis of the narrative accounts , combined with a detailed narrative analysis of one carers experiences to better understand how women constructed their stories in their own particular cultural context. A summary of the narrative analysis accounts of the rest of the 19 participants has been done to exemplify the main key issues each one of them had told in her story of caring for a child living with HIV and AIDS.