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HBC can be said to be important to PLWHA because it reduces medical expenditure, enables
patients to receive care in a familiar and supportive environment and creates community
awareness of the disease. Furthermore, HBC relieves the duty of creating extra services by
the health care system in resource limited areas and thus reduces hospital visits and increases
access of HIV affected members and community to regular skilled medical care, counselling,
support and home care supplies. HBC also provides education to family members and friends
on the prevention of further transmission of the virus and on how to practice good health and
hygiene (Young & Busgeeth, 2010; Fidzani & Attah, 1996; WHO, 1999). As the number of
PLWHA increases, more health care services are needed. Thus HBC becomes more relevant
as it can be given by both formal caregivers such as trained nurses and other medical
personnel or by informal care givers such as family members; friends or by volunteer
caregivers (Akintola, 2006; Akintola 2008).
Volunteer caregivers are people who come from HIV/AIDS affected communities and are
recruited and trained by HIV/AIDS care organizations to help family caregivers in caring for
PLWHA in their homes without receiving any remuneration (Akintola, 2006; Akintola,
2008). They are trained either by the organizations that recruit them for example, non-
governmental organizations or by the government through the department of health in order
to equip them with knowledge and skills on HIV/AIDS and T.B prevention methods.
Furthermore training is provided in basic nursing care, direct observation treatment (DOT),
infection control practices, basic counselling and nutrition, training for household caregivers
and mentoring orphans (Uys, 2000; Schwartz and Gidron, 2002).
In home-based care the most common opportunistic infections evident with most HIV/AIDS
clients include diarrhoea; pneumonia (causes fever and difficulty in breathing associated with
coughing), Tuberculosis (T.B), Skin conditions; thrush of the mouth or virgina, cold sores;
and genital herps (Zachariaha, Teck, Buhendwa, Fitzerland, Labanac, Chinji, Humbleta,
Harriesd, 2008). Most of these infections are responsible for high mortality rates for example,
80% of all HIV positive tuberculosis cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa (UNAIDS, 2010). In
PLWHA these infections can be transmitted to susceptible people around them such as family
members and caregivers. These infections can be transmitted through food, unhygienic
conditions, direct skin contact with infected individuals; direct contact with faeces of the
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