The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Palliative Care for Strategy for HIV Positive Patients

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Author Rana Tassawar Ali, June 12 2014 - The concept of palliative care emerges in the 1960s, and the philosophy of palliation includes managing end-of-life symptoms medically. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as “an approach that improves the quality of life of individuals and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.” The palliative care is non-specialist care which includes day-to-day care and psychological and social care within hospital or home. People who have HIV/AIDS are living with a killer disease and need palliative care. The palliative care strategy is required at every level either for caregivers or family and community of the patients. The care strategy for HIV positive patients below is a tool.


Communication


Effective communication with patients and with their families is a tool to promote health. It has been observed many times that patients and their families often find it difficult to discuss and share their feelings openly. They seek help regarding disease information and patient illness management, and they want to listen to the caregiver. Thus, good communication strategy is needed for good palliative care.


Pain Management


HIV/AIDS patients have unique end-of-life issues, and many significant painful syndromes are associated with HIV/AIDS. The pain management strategy requires both clinical and non-specialist caregivers’ participation for handling situations. This strategy must be built on a patient-by-patient basis, and all relevant family members should be part of this strategy.


Emotional Adjustment


The emotional adjustment strategy or psychosocial management strategy helps the patient for managing ongoing side effects of treatment. Emotional adjustment means keeping the patient in as normal a psychological frame of mind as possible and providing counseling and managing stress of patients and their families.


Community Care


Community care includes care from friends and neighbors and people who know the patient. If people visit the patient and talk about positive things done by the patient for community, it will give more hope to the patient.


Spiritual Care


Spiritual care is also an important factor, if family and friends pray for the patient, it provides inner relaxation to the patient. Every religion is based upon a belief system, and its followers believe in it more than caregivers, so spiritual care should be part of palliative care.


Every good palliative care plan depends on effective strategy, so results-based palliative care strategies will result in better managed end-of-life symptoms.