Conducting a Participatory Situation Analysis of.pdf - Global HIV ...

Topic Guide for Focus Group Discussions with
Heads of Households
(Family Health International/Zambia, 2002)
INTRODUCTION:
My name is _____________________________ and
my colleagues and I are gathering information on
orphans and vulnerable children on behalf of FHI and
SCOPE. We would like to find out from you various
things about the lives of orphans and vulnerable children
as well as their parents/guardians. The information you
give us will help FHI and SCOPE plan for activities to
improve the lives of orphans and vulnerable children and
their caregivers.
Methodology
The reporter will take notes. The discussions will also be
tape-recorded to supplement the notes.
Understanding of Orphans and Vulnerable Children
1. How did families and communities take care of each
other, especially children, in need during your grandparents’
time? (Examples: Better-off relatives helped
support the poorer members of their families by taking
in a child or helping out financially; giving a
child to a couple that was childless)
2. What has changed regarding care of each other and
children? How is it different today?
• What practices found in your grandparents’ time are
still in place today?
• What practices that supported orphans or children in
need that are no longer in practice would be helpful if
they were revitalized? (Examples: Who took care of
orphans in your grandparents’ time and are these structures
still in place today to take care of them)
3. What changes have you noticed in the well-being of
children in the past 5 years?
Probe:
• Emotional
• Health
• Educational
• Material
4. What do people mean when they say, “AIDS came for
people”? What do you think of this statement?
• What effect do you think HIV/AIDS is having on the
well-being of children? (Ask this question only if it was
not asked/answered or brought up earlier in the discussion)
Personal Experience Taking Care of Orphans and
Vulnerable Children
5. Tell me about your experiences during the illness and
subsequent death of the parent of the child/children
you are looking after.
• How did you cope during this time?
• What helped you? (Examples: prayer, taking alcohol,
talking to friends, talking to the priest/pastor/church
elder; going for counseling [quality of service received])
6. How do you perceive yourself as a caregiver (i.e., proficient
or not? Why/why not?)
• If not proficient, what is needed to increase your proficiency?
• In what ways has taking on extra children impacted
your own family? (Examples: I have to bear more costs;
the child is draining me emotionally; there isn’t enough
room in the house for everyone; there are too many
misunderstandings between my children and
them/between my husband and I).
• What differences do you experience in looking after
boys and girls?
• What age-related difficulties do you experience in looking
after the children you have taken in?
• In what ways has taking care of extra children helped
your family? (Examples: The child helps me with
housework/looking after my children; I have someone
to keep me company; the child helps my children with
their schoolwork; the child’s parents left some
money/property, which has made my life easier)
• Under what circumstances would you reject the children
you have taken in and ask them to leave your
home?
7. How was it decided what would happen to the children
once their parents died?
• What sorts of discussions did you have with the dying
parent(s) about the children’s future?
• How were the children involved in these discussions?
• If the children were not involved, what were your rea-
Conducting a Situation Analysis of
Orphans and Vulnerable Children Affected by HIV/AIDS
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