A Multi-Country Assessment of Catholic Relief Services Home-based Care Programs

Background: In many countries, HIV and AIDS has proven overwhelming to health systems. As a result, many home-based care (HBC) programs have arisen to help provide medical attention for people living with HIV (PLHIV). This study seeks to share CRS' collective experience and lessons learned with HBC. In June and July of 2007, a total of 21 interviews were conducted, representing 26 CRS programs from 19 countries. Results/Outcomes:The most commonly provided HBC services were support to the care provider, adherence support, psychosocial support, and referrals. Whether or not caregivers were paid had a large impact on the number of patients per week that were served per caregiver. All of the programs stated that they had clients that were on anti-retroviral therapy (ART), which placed some additional demands on program staff and caregivers. While all respondents felt that they were making a difference in their clients' lives, there were some commonly reported program areas that needed improving, including increasing the skill of the staff, increasing the number of services offered, and improving the monitoring and evaluation process. Conclusion: The programs that were represented during the course of the assessment showed a wide diversity in programming. One of the clearest findings to emerge from this assessment is that there is no “set formula” for HBC programming. However, there are some recommendations that emerge including the need to train caregivers (paid and volunteer) regularly and give special consideration to the role that ART has played in HBC work.