Aid for AIDS

The Children’s Program at AID FOR AIDS International

Program ABC’s

This program was established in 2003 to provide a variety of services for children living with HIV/AIDS, identified by physicians and clinics as needing continuous psychological counseling and support outside of their normal school and home environment. The goal of the program is to enable children to effectively cope with health challenges, and to benefit from antiretroviral drug regimens over a sustained period of time. In fact, children often come to us completely unaware of the HIV status. As such, a major challenge for our staff is to introduce these youth to their health condition and, more importantly, to the essential tools needed to maintain adherence to medication and treatment plans. These tools must be used in ways that are emotionally and cognitively appropriate for this young population.

Our program strives to help children age 3 to 15 realize a typical and healthy adolescence and maturation process than would otherwise be the case, given their precarious health situation. By offering emotional and educational support and medical services, AFAI can realize these goals. The program offers three distinct components: 1) age-appropriate counseling through one-on-one sessions with a social worker who has been trained to address youth developmental issues, including those relating to chronic health issues; 2) intensive one-on-one psychotherapy for children in acute distress; and 3) nine types of play activities designed to promote self-esteem, enhanced coping skills, and important health-promotion goals (such as adherence to antiviral drug regimens). Examples of these play activities include storytelling exercises, to impart messages of individual self worth and of overcoming life’s obstacles; puppet shows that reinforce critical treatment adherence messages through a dramatic, engaging format; and painting and drawing classes to help youth develop positive direction through art therapy. Additionally, because so much of what we do with children relies heavily on the consistency of the message, as well as non-judgmental acceptance within the child’s home, program staff regularly collaborate with parents to promote the specific goals and objective set out for each participant.

Outreach for program clients is accomplished almost entirely through well-established relationships with a number of physicians, hospitals, and clinics. These individuals and groups identify youth living with HIV/AIDS who are in greatest need of our support.

The children’s program follows widely recognized best practices for services reaching our particularly vulnerable target population. For example, confers with the child’s physician and parents to fully understand how we can best meet his or her particular needs. We then conduct an intake session with the child to compare the interviews with our own independent needs assessment. Information from these efforts forms the basis of a case plan that outlines a specific course of action, defining types of interaction, frequency and duration, and level of professional most appropriate for this young client (ex. a counselor and/or psychiatrist). our staff first Furthermore, routine, periodic reassessments of individual case plans occur every six months, as does ongoing evaluation of process and outcome measures.

Program Activities

Program activities include needs assessments, one-on-one counseling by a social worker and/or psychologist, educational sessions, and a wide variety of group activities to promote the emotional wellbeing and treatment adherence. More specifically, this program attempts to achieve the following objectives through its various service components:

• To increase knowledge of HIV and AIDS in 100% of the program’s clients/beneficiaries, as measured by baseline and post-intervention questionnaires;
• To see 100% of children maintain their connection to a primary care physician specializing in pediatric HIV care;
• To ensure program participants attend at least 80% of their medical appointments; To realize improvements in medication adherence rates for children who are having difficulty taking all drugs in their regimens, in the ways prescribed. This will be assessed through changes in viral load and CD4 count test results;
• To decrease the number of missed school days by participants, due to HIV/AIDS-related medical problems. This will be measured using attendance rates; our goal is to have participants present in school for at least 90% of the academic calendar year;
• To improve school performance of the children participating in our programs, especially those identified as experiencing educational difficulties. Our goal of 80% improvement will be measured using standard school report cards; and
• To achieve an 80% participation rate by parents of clients in counseling sessions designed to secure commitment in psychosocial support, adherence, and academic objectives for their children.

AFAI evaluates the program through multiple methods and approaches. In addition to those listed above, the program administers standard psychosocial assessments for youth including, the Bender-Gestalt Test, the Koppitz Developmental Scoring System (for the Bender-Gestalt test), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). These measures are executed upon admission to the program and at the designated reassessment intervals, depending on the specific case plan for each youth. The overall ability of the program to show improvements through these various aforementioned tests is our main indicator of impact on the population served.