Journal
AIDS CARE-PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIO-MEDICAL ASPECTS OF AIDS/HIV
Volume 32, Issue 1, Pages 72-75Publisher
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2019.1614521
Keywords
Engagement in HIV care; clinic transfer; Option B; default; pregnancy; HIV
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Mental Health [K99MH112413]
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for AIDS Research [P30 AI50410]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Clinic transfers among women in Option B+ are frequent, often undocumented, and may lead to suboptimal engagement in care and HIV outcomes. The reasons women move between HIV clinics are not well understood. We conducted four focus group discussions (FGD) among HIV-infected pregnant women in Option B+ and four FGDs and five in-depth interviews among healthcare workers (HCWs) at two large ART clinics in Lilongwe, Malawi. Mobility and fear of inadvertent HIV disclosure, particularly due to seeing neighbors or acquaintances at a clinic, were key drivers of transferring between HIV clinics. Women were aware of the need to obtain a formal transfer, but in practice this was often not feasible and led women to self-transfer clinics. Self-transferring to a new clinic frequently resulted to re-testing and re-initiating ART and concerns about disruptions in ART. Strategies to monitor women's engagement in HIV care without requiring a formal transfer are urgently needed.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available