Integrated Prevention and Care: Including men in care

Overview

Centre for Positive Care (CPC) was founded in 1993, working with the communities of the Vhembe district in Limpopo Province of South Africa, providing information on STIs, HIV and AIDS, and teaching about safer sex and distributing condoms.

Some critical factors led to the expansion of CPC: the rapid rise in the number of people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS; increasing mortality rates; and the demand for HIV and AIDS related services. In 1997 CPC formally registered as a Non Profit and Non Government Organisation. The following year it established a partnership with the Zimbabwe-based Project Support Group, linked to the Psychology Department at the University in Harare, which introduced CPC to the Peer Education and Community Home Based Care models.

CPC developed an approach to their work based around three programme areas: preventing HIV and AIDS through peer education and lay counselling; providing Community Home Based Care (CHBC) services; and Identifying orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and offering care and support to them and their families. They also developed a model of working with and through men as carers and educators.

This case study reviews the history and development of CPC from a small volunteer-run organisation to a fully-fledged operational NGO with an established network of partners and supporters. It reviews the success of its pioneering programme work with men as carers, and evaluates the impact of its programme work.

This document is one of a number of publications highlighting learning during the second phase of JOHAP (April 2002-March 2005).