Women Of The Age Of South Africa - 2692 Words

Women of childbearing age in South Africa have been selected as the target population for a behavior change intervention to prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV by reducing unintended pregnancies among HIV positive women. As explained in Assignment 1 (A1), this target population has been chosen because these women are directly at risk due to the norms and practices currently in place in South Africa. While engagement of male partners and healthcare workers is necessary to prevent unintended pregnancies among HIV positive women it has been proven that engagement of these additional groups alone is not sufficient.1 In order to construct an intervention with women at the center of the response2, three specific, modifiable, and†¦show more content†¦In addition, the first behavior has been revised to make it more specific and in such, more measurable. Instead of simply recommending that women get tested at least annually, the intervention will additionally inform wo men of the importance of getting tested before, and if not after, becoming sexually active with a new partner as well as during routine health clinic or hospital visits, specifically if the visit is for family planning, prenatal, or postnatal services. Part A: Selecting theoretical concepts, constructs and/or models Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory3 (SCT) has been selected as a model from which to create an effective behavior change intervention that targets the aforementioned three behaviors in order to ultimately reduce the incidence of unintended pregnancies among HIV positive South African women. SCT posits that â€Å"to achieve self-directed change, people need to be given not only reasons to alter risky habits but also the behavioral means, resources, and social supports to do so.†3 SCT is based on the notion of reciprocal causation wherein personal determinants, behavioral patterns, and environmental context influence one another bidirectionally and in such, an effective program must focus jointly on increasing awareness and knowledge, developing social and self-regulative skills, enhancing those skills and building resilient self-efficacy, and enlisting and creating social supports.3, 4 While there is not