Care Burden Faced By Women Caregivers of PLWHIV in Refugee Settings

The author is a Founder of Palliative Care Unit in Kyaka II Refugee Settlement and he became aware of rapid increase of care burdens faced by women caregivers for PLWHIV/AIDS in Refugee settlements while providing Palliative Care Services to refugees. The objectives of the study were to find out financial, physical, social, and emotional care burdens faced by refugee women caregivers for PLWHIV/AIDS and to suggest measures for reducing these care burdens. The study was descriptive and employed qualitative techniques in its inquiry. The target group was female refugee caregiver from Kyaka II refugee settlement. The main findings of the study showed that women face tremendous care burdens when giving care to PLWHIV. Some of the burden of care cited in the study includes; loss of income, increased stress, school dropout, loss of social contacts, and lack of patient feeds. Recommendations; Government and donors should support and strengthen IGAs, involve men in care-giving roles, provision of counseling to caregivers and family members, government to come up with policies which protect girl child’s rights to education.