Pre-Conference Workshop
9th August 2002
Sabie (exact details to be provided later)

Topic:
COPING WITH CARING: Helping rural doctors to cope with the burden of caring for patients with AIDS."

Time: 8.30am - 12.00 noon

Facilitators:

• Gerda Botha, Social Scientist, Department of Family Medicine & Primary Health Care, MEDUNSA
• Ian Couper, Professor of Rural Health, Wits University

Cost: Participants must be registered for the RuDASA conference (full or
day registration) and must be prepared to contribute (it is a WORKSHOP)

Restrictions: Only 20 participants will be accepted.
WE DO NOT WANT PARTICIPANTS WHO ARE SIMPLY COMING TO GET INFORMATION BUT ONLY THOSE WHO WANT TO HELP DEVELOP A PROGRAMME IN REGARD TO COPING WITH CARING

More Information

Background:
Rural doctors, and nurses, are constantly having to care for and face the death of patients with AIDS. It is difficult for them to avoid this, because there are not the range of options that bigger urban hospitals may offer. Furthermore, they often do not have the support structures around them that can help them cope with this. It is feared that the constant stress of this may lead to burnout, or to many doctors adopting unhealthy practices, or to forsaking rural hospital practice for the relative comfort of urban and/or private practice. Often health workers who are involved in counselling or home based care are part of support structures, whereas those involved as clinicians directly looking after patients in hospital are not supported in any way“ it is just expected of them that they must cope. An added stress is simply living with the risk of contracting HIV through occupational exposure, which has further implications for practice. We are aware of no process for helping doctors to deal with such issues.

Aim:
The aim is to develop a manual/programme/ongoing course, with support group structures, which help rural doctors (and hopefully other health care workers) to deal with the emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of caring for people with AIDS. We have provisionally titled this "Coping with Caring".

Process:
The facilitators will develop the concepts and outline of such a course. This will then be presented to the above workshop. The purpose of the workshop is to get input and direction on the approach, and together to formulate ideas for further development thereof. Should the concept be well-supported, with the inputs gained in the workshop, with the support and participation of some of the participants, the details of a programme/course will be worked out and implemented.

(The programme will be developed for and on behalf of RuDASA by a
partnership representing Medunsa and Wits University.)

Queries to be directed to: Ian Couper (couper@lantic.net)