Health Counsellors | Achieving the Vision
Our team is equipped each morning through a daily devotion as a group. As we meet with each patient we pray with them and encourage them in their walk with the Lord as the ultimate solution and healer for any person’s circumstance.
Why Do We Serve?
The stigma of learning your status still presents a struggle for clinics and care workers teaching awareness campaigns. 
Tackling the problem firsthand are the many counsellors who make up the majority of the Living Care staff. The Health Counsellors are stationed throughout the Southern Peninsula of Cape Town and on mobile teams running testing days where their sole purpose is to test people for HIV/AIDS in a loving environment and provide health and Biblical counselling after completing the tests. They accomplish this task by testing blood sugar, BMI, and blood pressure in addition to the optional HIV test, which helps to dilute the stigma for patients walking up to the testing site. The costs to perform the tests in the hospital can be almost R300 so to receive the tests at no cost, and an encouraging word and prayer helps to bring in new patients.
How Do We Serve?
Health Counselors provide HIV testing and counseling as well as educating clients on how to live a healthy sexual lifestyle based on Biblical principles. They encourage everyone to know their status, provide pre- and post-test counseling, and Counselors also prepare HIV positive clients for a life-long commitment to ARV treatment.
Where Do We Serve?
Our Living Hope Facility Counsellors serve in two local hospitals (False Bay Hospital and DP Marais Hospital), five clinic facilities (Fish Hoek, Ocean View, Masiphumelele, Muizenberg and Seawinds Clinic), and two satellite clinics (Simon’s Town and Red Hill).
Measuring Our Efforts
The counsellors are required to test a minimum number of new patients each month in order to assist the Government in their efforts of awareness and education. Last year the counsellors tested 17,630 people, of which 2.2% (387) tested positive.