Perception of Care from Primary Caregivers, External Support and Psychosocial State of AIDS Orphans in High HIV Prevalence Regions of Ghana

Background: Extended families of Africa in the past easily absorbed orphans, however, because of the increased numbers of orphans due to AIDS, and dwindling support from other sources, the extended family finds it difficult to cope with the AIDS orphan crisis. Empirical evidence indicates an elevated risk of psychosocial distress among AIDS orphans compared to non-orphans. The aim of the study was to determine adequacy of external support, to assess the psychosocial state of orphans, and to find out from orphans how they perceive and rate the care received from primary caregivers. Methods: Two hundred and ninety-two AIDS orphans were purposively selected, and mixed-method of data collection was used. The quantitative data consisted of responses from orphans with interview questionnaires, whilst the qualitative data consisted of responses from in-depth interviews with 20 orphans. Results: The majority of orphans-69.7% and 76.4% rated the support receive they from extended family and external sources respectively as poor. Only about21% rated care from primary caregiver as excellent. Although about 88% of orphans stay close to caregivers, almost 40% were unhappy or depressed. Conclusion: We recommend that orphan care management policies and interventions should look into the relationship of orphans with their primary caregivers and the extended family support systems, and draw up programmes to improve these relationships and foster sense of belongingness for orphans.