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Challenges of qualitative fieldwork research in the HIV/AIDS Context
Judith King. HIVAN Media Team. 25 November 2002.
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A three-day workshop, co-hosted by HIVAN (Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking) and the Africa Centre, was held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban during November 2002 for fieldwork researchers confronted by the challenges inherent in working within communities affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Attended by 20 delegates from organisations active in KwaZulu-Natal, the workshop was designed and facilitated by Kerry Frizelle, a lecturer at School of Psychology, who explained the aims and objectives of the programme. "Fieldworkers engaging with families in these communities are regularly having to confront various dilemmas in the course of gathering data about the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in their area," she says. "A number of sensitive issues and often dramatic scenarios arise for which there are no easy solutions, and from this perspective, 'research' becomes a deeply social and personal activity."
HIV/AIDS researchers are required to locate themselves within the epidemic with authenticity and compassion, while at the same time retaining the kind of emotional distance that ensures objectivity. "This is often an extremely difficult balance to attain and maintain, and in addition, the researchers can also find themselves overwhelmed by having to grapple with the various stereotypes and prejudices that exist in society," says Frizelle. "So they are dealing with more than a diagnosis or a set of facts to be recorded, but with the emotional responses of family members and community leaders."
These responses include denial, anger, despair and grief, played out against a backdrop of poverty, hunger and general disempowerment. Yet even in the face of these seemingly insurmountable odds, researchers also come to witness great acts of human courage, community support and resilience. "The workshop offers skills training in dealing effectively with the researchers' own personal issues while engaged in the act of research," says Frizelle.
Reading material supplied at the workshop quotes Sir Sydney Smith, who said in 1953: "There is no such thing as a diseased organ in isolation; there are no diseases to treat, but only diseased people. Do not forget that you are dealing with the whole person, not only the body - not only the mind - but the person themselves?… You must remember that many patients come to you not only suffering from damaged bodies, but with bruised minds, lacerated consciences and broken hearts?…"
The workshop was run in a participatory manner, with attendees being asked to reflect on and share their experiences in the field, so that the content of the sessions would be specific to their needs and concerns. The researchers were nvited to discuss and refine certain ideas and to take the opportunity to practice the skills introduced during the programme.
The programme was built around five main session themes, the first being "The Subjective in the Research Process", which covered the personal issues encountered in the course of doing fieldwork research, and the impact these have on their public and private lives. The session also provided an opportunity to the researchers to describe their individual means of coping with such difficulties.
The second session honed in on "The Role of the Researcher", exploring the notion of "boundaries" in the research process. This involved finding close definitions of the role and obligations of the researchers and how these can become blurred. This was followed by training in how to establish professional boundaries that could assist in preventing "burn-out" and augment the ability to recognise and accept personal limitations.
"The Informal Counsellor" took the fieldworkers through their experiences of the demands placed on them when encountering the prejudice and stereotypical thinking associated with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The session aimed to equip the fieldworkers with some basic counselling skills that would give them the confidence and practical knowledge to offer appropriate counselling during the research process, and to deal with confrontations arising from stigma and discrimination against those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
The fourth session focused on "Death: Cultural Diversity and the Grieving Process". Coping with various experiences of death as a result of HIV/AIDS requires some understanding of different cultural meanings around death and dying, and the fieldworkers were given some perspective on these issues as a means of handling more effectively the anguish of terminally ill patients as well as their families and friends.
Finally, a method of containing emotional disintegration resulting from the pressure of this type of work was explored in a session on "Peer Support and Supervision".
For a full report on this training programme, please click on the link on the righthand side of this page. |
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Kerry Frizelle (left) with Mrs Busisiwe Dube from Bergville.
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