Horizons | Research Summary | Positive, Engaged, Involved: PLHA Participation in Community-based Organizations

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RESEARCH SUMMARY

August 1999

Positive, Engaged, Involved:
PLHA Participation in Community-based Organizations

Study Methodology

Approximately 100 organizations involved to various degrees in the campaign against HIV/AIDS have been identified in Burkina Faso, yet only a handful undertake regular activities. Five of these community-based organizations were chosen to participate in the Horizons study, at three locations throughout the country: in Ouagadougou, Association African Solidarité (AAS), Laafi la viim (ALAVI), and La Bergerie–Foi, Univers, Compassion; in Bobo Dioulasso, Responsabilité, Espoir, Vie, Solidarité+ (REVS+); and in Ouahigouya, Appui Moral, Matérial et Intellectuel à l’Enfant (AMMIE). These CBOs were selected because they all undertake activities both in prevention and in care and support, yet among them represent a wide range in the level of PLHA involvement, from none to extensive. All five receive technical or financial support from the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and its local partner, the Initiative Privée et Communautaire contre le SIDA (IPC).

In all, 176 respondents were recruited for the study, including 103 members of these five CBOs, representing between 50 percent and 67 percent of the active membership of each group. Other participants included health and social sector workers, HIV-infected or -affected people who receive services from these groups, relatives of CBO members living with HIV/AIDS, PLHA who are neither members nor beneficiaries of services from the five associations, policymakers in the area of health, and community leaders.

The methodology used was primarily qualitative. Horizons researchers carried out 104 semi-structured interviews: 52 with CBO members, 19 with infected and affected people receiving CBO services, 5 with relatives of people living with HIV/AIDS involved in the CBOs, 9 with health professionals, 3 with HIV-positive people not involved with the CBOs, and 8 each with community leaders and policymakers. Fifteen focus groups were convened: 10 with members of participating CBOs, 3 with health professionals, and 2 with women CBO members. Researchers also observed two kinds of CBO activities: home visits with HIV-positive people who were receiving care and support, and awareness-raising sessions led by a PLHA to promote prevention. Informed consent was obtained from all respondents, who were guaranteed confidentiality.

From the beginning, members of the five CBOs were involved in most phases of study design. They contributed to the construction of data collection instruments, carried out self-assessments of the quality and effectiveness of their activities, and participated actively in data analysis, particularly during the workshops at the end of the study. The self-assessments focused on one major service that each CBO provided; three chose home visits, one chose awareness-raising activities by PLHA members, and one chose its outpatient care center’s operations.

“This level of CBO involvement ensured the ongoing interest of these groups and the maximum use of results,” said Christophe Cornu of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, who serves as international coordinator for the Horizons study.

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