An Analysis on the Effectiveness of Psychosocial Support Programmes on Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Matobo District

Abstract

This study focused on assessing the impact of psychosocial support on children in difficult circumstances particularly orphaned children. The researcher purposively sampled eighty participants that included seventy orphans and ten psychosocial support care givers. The researcher administered a questionnaire to orphans, held interviews with the psychosocial support care givers and also carried out observations on the orphans. The data gathered was presented in the form of pie charts, tables and graphs. The SPSS package version 16.0 was used to analyze data. Findings revealed that seventy eight percent of the orphans showed signs of coping resilience which is reflective of psychosocial wellbeing which is the ultimate goal of all psychosocial support interventions. Twenty two percent of the orphans exhibited signs of psychosocial distress which suggested that psychosocial support programmes did not work for all the children. The study concluded that the psychosocial support programme had a positive impact on orphans, the children were helped to cope with difficult life situations. Among the recommendations made were that organizations providing Psychosocial support should engage government departments like school psychological services and the social welfare for professional assistance with regard to matters related to the psychological problems affecting orphans