PHT 112: Counseling & Spiritual Care : Section I
Counseling and its importance in HIV/AIDS prevention and
management.
What is HIV/AIDS counseling?
This is a confidential dialogue between a client and a competent (trained professional
counselor) aimed at enabling the client to cope with stress and taking personal
discussions related HIV/AIDS.
It can be defined as the provision of support and strength to individuals, couples,
families and groups by competent persons to help them cope with the knowledge that
they are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. If they are HIV. negative, information is
provided to promote behavior change and condom use
The counseling process.
The counseling process includes evaluating the personal risk of HIV transmission and
discussing how to prevent infection. It also concentrates on emotional and social issues
related to possible or actual infection with HIV and to AIDS.
The sequence of counseling and testing process is as follows:
1. Pre-test counseling: This is aimed at making the individual make an informed
decision about taking the test and to assist her to develop a realistic risk of turning
out positive
2. Informed consent: the individual agrees to take the test having been fully
informed about it. The individual also has the right to refuse to be tested.
3. The blood test: Blood is drawn from the individual and tested.
4. The waiting period: Depending on the test done, it could take a few minutes, days
or weeks. This period is associated with anxiety and tension.
5. Post test counselling: After the waiting period, result is given ton the individual
regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Post-test counseling aims at
making the individual cope with the results especially if it is positive. For those
who turn out negative post-test counseling aims at reinforcing messages of
behavior change and risk reduction.
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PHT 112: Counseling & Spiritual Care : Section I
6. Follow-up activities: This includes making referrals, counseling of relatives
encouraging joining of post test support groups. These follow-up activities should
be clearly noted.
The importance of HIV/AIDS Counseling
a) Knowing whether you have HIV infection would alert you to your alert you to
your need to seek medical care to prevent or delay life threatening illness (better
coping with the condition and living better life’s)
b) If one finds out that he/she would be careful to protect her/his partner (prevent
HIV transmission.
c) Knowing ones status would help in assessing the safety of having a child.
d) It reduces the anxiety of the suspicion that you may be infected but you do not
know such anxiety interferes with normal function.
e) If one is not infected, then the possibility of taking action to ensure that one
remains uninfected is higher through behavior change, condom use etc.
Obstacles in the way of HIV/AIDS Counseling (Factors hindering the
effectiveness of HIV/Counseling)
1. Poor selection of trainees; People are sometimes put on training courses simply
because they are “due” for another course or just to fill up the numbers and not
because they are willing g to be counselors.
2. Lack of supervised practice and follow-up after training. Training may take only 2-3
day workshop and without supervised practice.
3. Inadequate recourses facilities and organization. Problems related to these include
a) Counseling is not considered an essential social service hence there are no clear
policies on funding.
b) There is lack of confidentiality.
c) The setting of the service is inappropriate for clients because of lack of privacy
during counseling session, inconvenient opening times or difficult physical
access.
d) The procedure of the service is intimidating e.g. interrogating reception staff.
e) Counselors often have other jobs such as nursing which take priority over
counseling.
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PHT 112: Counseling & Spiritual Care : Section I
f) Poor referral system in which clients are not referred at the right time. E.g. client
may not have offered pretest counseling of possibly has not been given informed
consent to testing and may come to the counselor panic stricken on learning they
are HIV positive. The counselor is then required to sort this situation out. If this
happens repeatedly the counselor may experience burn out.
4. Burn out – this is a state of emotional exhaustion that results when the counselor
has reached his /her limit to deal with HIV and the emotional stress it causes. The
counselor may become angry, irritable and even feeling responsible for the client’s
state and welfare.
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