Traditional Healers as Adherence Partners for Persons Living With HIV in Rural Mozambique (PLHIV)
HIV/AIDS
About this trial
This is an interventional supportive care trial for HIV/AIDS
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Patients: Individuals 18 years of age or older, HIV-infected, and newly enrolled in ART and treatment services at Namacurra Sede.
- Traditional Healers: Healers will be eligible to participate if the healer lives within 10 km of the Namacurra Sede, received previous training from FGH, is 18 years of age or older, speak Portuguese, and see at least one patient per month
Exclusion Criteria:
- Patients: Individuals that are currently pregnant, HIV-uninfected, and/or not yet enrolled in HIV care. Individuals who cannot give consent due to mental limitations or intoxication.
- Traditional Healers: Healers who believe they can effectively treat or cure HIV or other associated conditions will be excluded from the project.
Sites / Locations
- Namacurra Sede Health Facility
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Active Comparator
Experimental
Standard of Care
Traditional Healer Support Program
Intervention: This group will receive only standard of care HIV treatment, including ART medications (First-line ART will consist of two nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) plus a non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)- TDF + 3TC (or FTC) + EFV as a fixed-dose combination to be taken twice a day for the rest of the patient's life), clinic-based counseling, and community searches if lost to follow up.
This group will receive standard of care as described above. In addition, the investigators will assess an intervention partnership with traditional healer including: community and clinic based support from a trained traditional healer. The intervention includes: (1) healer visits to the patient at home, healer support for couples counseling, healer provision of nutritional advice, and healer counsel about the importance of adherence. If anything is amiss, the healer will accompany the patient to the health facility for additional clinical services. In addition, the healer will accompany the patient on all regularly scheduled clinical visits.