The preparation of this Home- and Community-Based Care Implementation Framework has come at a time when the Ministry of Health is shifting its focus through the Community Strategy towards strengthening health care provision at level 1 (the community – villages, households, families, individuals). HCBC is an integral part of the Ministry’s Community Strategy. Care for people living with HIV/AIDS is continually evolving as health service providers respond to the changing needs of clients, families and communities.
More bedridden patients are also recovering and graduating from debility to mobility, thereby becoming active members of their community on life-long anti-retroviral treatment. This calls for the extension of comprehen- sive care beyond the health facility to the home and community level. The framework presented here reflects that critical change of focus from home-based care to home- and community-based care.
The HCBC framework is a guide to implementers, supervisors and donor agencies. The goal is to ensure the provision of quality care for the HIV infected and other chronically ill people at the home and community
Foreword
level. International and local donor agencies as well as HCBC implementing partners will be required to use this framework for the implementation of HCBC activities in line with the relevant priority areas of their respective districts. Government officials at the various levels will also use the framework to monitor, guide and supervise the implementation of HCBC programmes. With a recommended minimum package for HCBC, rolled out according to a nationally recommended HCBC implementation model, the Ministry expects that standards and quality of care will be upheld.
Through the use of this HCBC guiding framework, implementing partners will reflect the Government’s commitment to ensure that those with debilitating illnesses and those infected and affected by HIV receive a sustainable continuum of care of the highest quality in their homes and in their communities.