Nutrition and HIV/AIDS: A Training Manual - Linkages Project

TASK 5: Organize field visits for students to enable them to:• Conduct a nutritional assessment and nutrition counseling and education invarious environments when working with HIV-infected pregnant and lactatingwomen• Describe at least three challenges in working with HIV-positive pregnant orlactating women or adolescents in limited-resource settings• State at least two interventions to address the issues and challenges identifiedaboveDivide the students into groups and assign each group to visit a different site thatprovides care for HIV-infected pregnant or lactating women or adolescents. Sites caninclude antenatal clinics, PMTCT clinics, health centers, or other appropriatesettings. Establish a relationship with the different sites the students will visit.Arrange times for field visits and identify contact people for the students to seewhen they arrive. Inform the facilities of the objectives of this exercise.Review the objectives of the field visits with the students and direct them to thesites. Arrange for them to observe a health worker conducting a nutritionalassessment and nutrition counseling and education session. Allow each student toconduct at least one supervised nutritional assessment and nutrition counseling andeducation session with an HIV-infected pregnant or lactating woman or adolescent.The number of students in a group may not allow each student to conduct anutritional assessment and nutrition counseling session. Classroom role-plays can beused, or different appointments can be set up for individuals or smaller, moremanageable, groups of students. Students who are unable to practice conducting anutritional assessment during the field visit should act as observers, using thenutritional assessment checklist to provide feedback to fellow students.Follow up the field visits by asking each group to present its experience to the restof the class by answering the following questions:• What type of nutritional care and support was provided to the HIV-infectedmothers in the places they visited?180