In this exploratory and descriptive study we investigated the experiences of and impact on young girls and older women caring for family members living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic and terminal illnesses at home in three districts of Botswana. Using qualitative research methods, we conducted 70 interviews with family caregivers and key informants such as community home-based care (CHBC) team members and government officials. Older women reported feeling overwhelmed with the magnitude and multiplicity of tasks they had to perform. They reported feeling exhausted, malnourished, depressed, and often neglectful of their own health. Young girls often missed school and they were sexually and physically abused, sexually exploited, and depressed. In addition, these caregivers experienced poverty, social isolation, stigma, psychological distress, and a lack of basic caregiving education. We made recommendations to improve services and care to the CHBC teams and to the national government.

The concept of health within illness is beginning to gain recognition in nursing. However, there has been little research to explore and describe this phenomenon. The results of a recent study investigating the meaning of the experience of feeling healthy for people living with a chronic illness and/or disability are presented. An interpretive phenomenological study was undertaken with eight participants living with a variety of different chronic conditions. The results provide a rich mosaic of themes describing the participants' health experiences. These themes include: (a) honouring the self; (b) seeking and connecting with others; (c) creating opportunities; (d) celebrating life; (e) transcending the self; and (f) acquiring a state of grace. The significance of these results is that they provide for a reconceptualization of health and illness. Such a reconceptualization calls for a transformation in nursing care, from a problem focus and a deficit perspective, to one which focuses on the client's capacity and the promotion of health and healing.

Abstract:This article presents results of a qualitative study of values development in U.S. and Scottish social work students who participated in a study-abroad program. Six themes emerged: opening the mind to new ways of thinking; awareness and insight into one's own values and beliefs; social awareness and challenges to societal values and beliefs; appreciation of difference, cultural sensitivity, and anti-discriminatory practice; social justice; and professional identity development. Implications for social work study-abroad programs and future research are discussed.

In this exploratory and descriptive study we investigated the experiences of and impact on young girls and older women caring for family members living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic and terminal illnesses at home in three districts of Botswana. Using qualitative research methods, we conducted 70 interviews with family caregivers and key informants such as community home-based care (CHBC) team members and government officials. Older women reported feeling overwhelmed with the magnitude and multiplicity of tasks they had to perform. They reported feeling exhausted, malnourished, depressed, and often neglectful of their own health. Young girls often missed school and they were sexually and physically abused, sexually exploited, and depressed. In addition, these caregivers experienced poverty, social isolation, stigma, psychological distress, and a lack of basic caregiving education. We made recommendations to improve services and care to the CHBC teams and to the national government.

Abstract. 1. Hosts experiencing frequent variation in density are thought to benefit from allocating more resources to parasite defence when density is high (‘density‐dependent prophylaxis’). However, high density conditions can increase intra‐specific competition and induce physiological stress, hence increasing host susceptibility to infection (‘crowding‐stress hypothesis’).2. We studied monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and quantified the effects of larval rearing density on susceptibility to the protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha. Larvae were inoculated with parasite spores and reared at three density treatments: low, moderate, and high. We examined the effects of larval density on parasite loads, host survival, development rates, body size, and wing melanism.3. Results showed an increase in infection probability with greater larval density. Monarchs in the moderate and high density treatments also suffered the greatest negative effects of parasite infection on body size, development rate, and adult longevity.4. We observed greater body sizes and shorter development times for monarchs reared at moderate densities, and this was true for both unparasitised and parasite‐treated monarchs. We hypothesise that this effect could result from greater larval feeding rates at moderate densities, combined with greater physiological stress at the highest densities.5. Although monarch larvae are assumed to occur at very low densities in the wild, an analysis of continent‐wide monarch larval abundance data showed that larval densities can reach high levels in year‐round resident populations and during the late phase of the breeding season. Treatment levels used in our experiment captured ecologically‐relevant variation in larval density observed in the wild.