Enabling, empowering environment as support to care

ProCAARE Team
2001-11-15

A comprehensive overview of the discussions on creating an enabling environment as support to HIV/AIDS care. These discussions took place on ProCAARE in preparation for the December, 2001 Chiang Mai Conference on Home and Community Care.

We have come to the end of the third theme in our structured discussion, Enabling, empowering environment as support to care. This theme started on 17 October and concluded on 13 November.

The theme commenced by defining an enabling, empowering environment as one that creates a set of circumstances that facilitates and is conducive to the provision of care and support. Such an environment is needed to assist people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and their families to live their lives to the full and to reach their potential.

Dr Gert Marincowitz introduced Theme 2 and posed the following moderator questions to the forum members:

* What is understood by an enabling empowering environment?
* What is the benefit of acceptance of PHWHA 's and how can it become a reality within the community?

Dr Marincowitz sees "Enabling" as the cultivation of perceptions about somebody's own abilities. He believes that the single most important element of enabling is the firm belief in the value and the inherent potential of the caregiver.

He stated that such motivation comes many times from perceptions of self-efficacy, meaningfulness and purpose in life and the ability to take responsibility for yourself, your family and your community. He encouraged those of us who are part of the supporting environment to acknowledge and build on these perceptions.

To read the full-text version of this summary, please visit the "Publications" section of this web site and select "SUMMARY 3: Enabling, empowering environment as support to care. "