Attitude, perception and psycho-social barries to HIV and AIDS voluntary counselling and testing: A case study of expectant mothers in the Cape Coast metropolis

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the attitude, perception and psychosocial barriers to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) of expectant mothers. The research design was a case study. Forty expectant mothers were selected from antenatal clinic in the Cape Coast metropolis through convenience and purposive sampling method. A 51-item interview schedule made up of both open-ended and close-ended items were used for the data collection. Descriptive statistics were used in analyzing the research questions while the t-test of independence and one-way analysis of variance at alpha level of .05 were used in analyzing the hypotheses. The study revealed that expectant mothers had a high level of knowledge about HIV and AIDS VCT. Some of the psycho-social barriers that expectant mothers mentioned included: lack of confidentiality among the health staff, fear to disclose HIV-positive status to husband and emotional stress to be experienced. Expectant mothers also had a positive attitude and perception towards HIV and AIDS VCT. Finally, there was also a significant difference between married and unmarried expectant mothers’ attitudes toward HIV and AIDS VCT; and it was found that expectant mothers’ level of education does not influence their attitudes toward HIV and AIDS VCT The study recommended that education at the antenatal clinics should be sustained by the health authorities. Health-care workers should receive more training in basic counselling skills to build a trusting relationship with their clients. The positive attitude and perception of expectant mothers towards HIV and AIDS VCT should encourage health care providers to intensify public education campaigns to encourage more expectant mothers to access the facility.