A research conducted by an academic of Michigan State University says that the children of Ugandan parents with AIDS improved with the help of a social intervention program that focused on building a child's inherent ability to learn and develop.
The study aimed to see if children with parents tested with HIV or AIDS could benefit from Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers (MISC), a training program. MISC is known to have helped caregivers in different countries. It helps children develop social skills, language, and cognitive ability.
"MISC is about training mothers or other caregivers on ways they can be sensitive to their child's natural tendencies to learn, and to direct those tendencies in everyday life to enrich the child's development," said Boivin.
Associate professor Michael Boivin of the departments of Psychiatry and Neurology and Ophthalmology researched children in Uganda who had lost at least one parent because of AIDS.
Boivin said that these children are deprived of affection and proper interaction necessary for their growth.
"They face hardship even in the best of circumstances, because most are in impoverished environments," he said. "Their poverty is compounded by the fact that their parents are infected with HIV. They face tremendous challenges to their development."
The researchers studied 120 uninfected preschoolers whose mothers were tested HIV+. The children's guardians, mostly their mothers were trained in childcare MISC or through an education program that focused on improving children's health and nutrition.
The results were checked after a year. It found that the children with trained guardians had developed in cognitive skills and showed better memory and language learning.
The training also helped the guardians of these children. They showed decreased symptoms of depression and anxiety. Boivin explained that the reason behind this might be the social support provided in the training.
Boivin maintained that MISC doesn't require outside materials and has the potential to change the care giving culture in a community once it takes hold.
