Research Leads to Better Practice

New scientific findings have led to important developments for children and families affected by HIV and AIDS over the past thirty years and a recent issue of OVCsupport.net makes new research publications even more accessible to those working in the field. This recent issue includes a great article from Firelight Advisory Council member Linda M. Richter that we recommend reading.

Linda has a sharp perspective on the issue with her prolific publishing legacy and long-term commitment to research on issues affecting vulnerable children and families. She's the Distinguished Research Fellow at the Human Sciences Research Council in Durban, South Africa and  also the Senior Specialist for Vulnerable Children at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Included in her repertoire of published works is the book she co-authored, Mandela's Children: Growing Up in Post Apartheid South Africa that uses research to inform how social conditions affect children in post-apartheid South Africa.

Here's what Linda has to say at OCVsupport.net this month:

"The plight of children affected by HIV and AIDS reaches into everyone’s heart, and we all wish we could do more to make these children’s lives easier and happier, and give them hope for the future.

Extended families and kin were the first to help affected children, in North America and Europe, as well as in sub-Saharan Africa; and, since that time, also in other regions of the world including Eastern Europe, China, India and Latin America. Faith- and community-based organizations try to assist families to support children. Later, international agencies and, more recently, governments, stepped in with large programmes to attempt to match the scale of the epidemic’s impact on children."

Read the rest of the article here, The importance of research for improving services for children and families affected by HIV and AIDS