Succession Planning for Vulnerable Children (Paperback)

This book is based on an ethnographic PhD fieldwork carried out in Uganda among HIV positive and HIV negative parents. The aim of the book is to enhance understanding of the meaning and scope of the concept of Succession Planning (SP). The SP concept has been adapted to the HIV/AIDS landscape to mean working with HIV-positive parents to ensure the future welfare of their children. This book discusses the traditional forms of SP and how these have been transformed over time due to emerging and re-emerging issues including AIDS. The book explores dilemmas that parents living with HIV/AIDS deal with in their attempt to undertake SP for their children. Findings indicate that SP is an important intervention for all parents irrespective of their HIV-status. The main difference between HIV-positive and HIV-negative parents was in the perception of the urgency for SP. Parent living with AIDS who did not have access to treatment for opportunistic infections and antiretroviral therapy tended to perceive SP as urgent due the premise that they would die soon.