An increase in the number of childhood orphans in South Africa is causing a greater focus of the research agenda on the implementation of interventions aimed at the psychological and developmental well-being of orphans. In South Africa, there are a variety of interventions, and they differ in their efficacy, service delivery coverage, and aims. This review aimed to provide a comprehensive account of interventions currently implemented among orphans within South Africa, which induced determining the types of OVC receiving support, the type of support provided to OVC, the geographical reach of the interventions, and the challenges and limitations hindering the effectiveness of interventions. Thereby identifying the gaps present within these aspects which should be addressed with future research endeavours. Through qualitative content analysis, this scoping review analysed 17 pieces of literature discussing intervention methods among orphans in South Africa. An analysis produced 12 categories of the types of interventions currently implemented among orphans in South Africa, namely: (1) psychological interventions, (2) educational interventions, (3) psychoeducational interventions, (4) physical resource interventions, (5) service interventions, (6) emotional interventions, (7) behavioural interventions, (8) family interventions, (9) developmental interventions, (10) recreational interventions, (11) resilience interventions, and (12) language literacy interventions. The researcher observed variations in the coverage of service delivery, methods of implementation, and target populations of interventions. Interventionists face numerous challenges when implementing interventions, such as a lack of governmental support and financial limitations. Efficacy and sustainability of these interventions remain uncertain, as does the appropriateness of addressing only specific needs of OVCs. To achieve sustainable change among OVC, reviewers recommend a blended approach where physical needs are addressed first and then psychological and developmental needs are addressed.
Grove et al. (2026) studied this question.