How Family-centered Care Can Make a Difference

SEPTEMBER 2009 — Ha (not her real name) started school when she was a year older than many children in Tân Châu township, An Giang Province, Vietnam, but she stopped going soon after. The problem was not only that her impoverished parents could not afford to send her to school, but she did not want to go. Ha is shy, and she was also very worried that classmates might shun her because she is HIV-positive.

The family-centered care program at the Tân Châu outpatient clinic, funded by PEPFAR and supported by Family Health International, took on the challenge of changing the life of this 8-year-old girl and those of her family for the better.

The outpatient clinic's home-based care team were well aware of Ha because its volunteer members frequently visited her home to ensure that her mother was responding well to HIV care and treatment and adhering to the drug regimen. Team members also regularly provided rice, milk, oil, and other nutritional support the family needed; made referrals that enrolled Ha's 3-year-old brother into pediatric HIV treatment; and encouraged Ha to come to the clinic's monthly playgroups for children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.

These playgroups are organized by the clinic's family-care coordinator, who worked to get Ha back to school, meeting with teachers and school officials to discuss the issue and the need to encourage her to play with other children. Like other economically disadvantaged children, Ha was also provided with a school uniform, notebooks, and other school materials. She also received psychosocial support and counseling.

Ha returned at school and is about to start second grade. The interventions of the family-care coordinator made a big difference, along with the resulting attention paid to her by her teacher.

This success is a testament to the value of providing comprehensive, coordinated care for the whole family—a package that includes physical and emotional care for each member, psychosocial and educational support, shelter and protection, and economic-strengthening and stigma-reduction activities. To this end, the program has effective partnerships with all relevant service providers in the area, including government and social welfare NGOs.

To date, nearly 3,000 orphans and vulnerable children have been reached, more than 100 children are enrolled in clinical HIV care, and 65 children are on ART. There has been no loss to follow-up among children on ART.

FHI supports the program with technical expertise, including in monitoring and evaluation to ensure the best possible service quality. 

PHOTO: Ha and her friends participate in a play and learn group. (FHI/Vietnam)