Targeted mentoring for human immunodeficiency virus programme support in South Africa

Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Targeted mentoring for human immunodeficiency virus programme support in South Africa
 
Creator Jobson, Geoffrey Mabitsi, Moyahabo Railton, Jean Grobbelaar, Cornelis J. McIntyre, James A. Struthers, Helen E. Peters, Remco P.H.
 
Subject public health Technical assistance; Health Systems Strengthening; Mentoring; South Africa; HIV
Description Background: Mentoring is a required component of health systems strengthening technical assistance interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Mentoring is useful because it does not necessarily compromise service delivery and promotes the sharing of newly acquired knowledge and skills. However, there is a lack of research on the implementation of mentoring in the context of the HIV epidemic in southern Africa.Objectives: This qualitative evaluation focussed on understanding the implementation process of targeted mentoring for clinical practice, data management and pharmacy management, at public health care facilities in South Africa; and on identifying critical factors influencing the effectiveness of mentoring as a technical assistance intervention in this context.Methods: Purposive sampling was used to select participants from public health facilities in three South African Provinces. Participants were invited to take part in structured interviews. Datawere analysed using thematic analysis, and two core themes were identified: mentoring as knowledge and skills transfer; and mentoring as psychosocial support.Results: In terms of knowledge and skills transfer, the sequential implementation of proactive and reactive mentoring was critical. Initial proactive mentoring involved mentors initiating training and developing professional relationships with mentees. Thereafter, a reactive mentoring phase allowed mentees to request support when required. This enabled mentors to leverage real-world problems faced by health workers to support their implementation of new knowledge and skills. The availability and accessibility of mentors alongside the relationships between mentors and mentees provided psychosocial support for health care workers which facilitated their self-efficacy in implementing new knowledge and skills.Conclusion: These findings suggest that the success of mentoring programmes in LMICs may require specific attention to both knowledge transfer and the management of interpersonal relationships.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief - 674-A-12-00015
Date 2019-02-14
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Qualitative evaluation
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajhivmed.v20i1.873
 
Source Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine; Vol 20, No 1 (2019); 6 pages 2078-6751 1608-9693
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/873/1326 https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/873/1325 https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/873/1327 https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/873/1324
 
Coverage South Africa — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Geoffrey Jobson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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