Following the announcement of the global "90-90-90" strategy, there is a huge need in South Africa for effective well-developed scaled-up models of ART (anti-retroviral therapy) delivery that aim to improve patient adherence and viral suppression. The ART adherence club is one such model of service delivery. The investigators are conducting a pragmatic randomised control trial to compare virological outcomes 12 months post-ART initiation between arms: individuals referred to the Adherence club at 4 months post-ART initiation (early referral) and individuals referred to the Adherence club at 12 months post-ART initiation (delayed referral). Individuals with delayed Adherence club referral will continue to attend the ART clinic as per the Standard-of-Care.
Following on from the huge need for scaled-up models of ART (anti-retroviral therapy) delivery to improve patient adherence and viral suppression, the ART adherence club model was piloted from 2007 with the aim of assessing whether this group-based, lay-counsellor led service, with an emphasis on social support and adherence, could help address retention in care and viral suppression. Since the initial pilots, the club model has been scaled up rapidly with more than 400 clubs meeting in the Cape Town metro. As this model is being scaled-up and implemented rapidly, there is an urgent necessity to further assess its effectiveness. Whilst adherence clubs have been shown to be locally implementable, popular (with buy-in by clinic staff and patients) and cost-effective, and whilst community-based interventions have been shown to improve retention, evidence of local adherence club effectiveness in improving viral suppression and retention has only been observationally obtained. This observational evidence is highly subject to selection bias. This trial aims to address this by using a randomised controlled trial design with two arms - ART patients receiving care in clinic as per the Standard-of-Care (this arm will have delayed referral to Adherence clubs at 12 months post-initiation) and ART patients receiving care in Adherence clubs (this arm will have early referral to Adherence clubs at 4 months post-initiation). By doing this the investigators hope to generate robust evidence regarding both the effectiveness of clubs and the optimal timing of club referral.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
220
Participants will be referred to an Adherence Club at 4 months post-ART initiation. Adherence club visits occur 2-4 monthly at a community hall near the Community Health Centre (CHC). At routine visits, which last 1-2 hours, community health workers provide health education, weigh patients, ask about symptoms and dispense pre-packed ART. Symptomatic patients are sent back to the ART clinic for clinician assessment. An assigned nurse takes blood tests annually at each club, and then returns on the subsequent visit to perform a clinical assessment and check the results. Patients requiring more follow-up or with high viral loads are referred back to the ART clinic at the CHC by the nurse.
Gugulethu Community Health Centre
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Viral suppression
Viral load \<400 copies/ml with secondary analyses at other thresholds
Time frame: Up to 12 months post-ART initiation
Retention in care
Numbers of missed visits and loss-to-follow up
Time frame: Up to 12 months post-ART initiation
Physical and Mental Health
As captured in the study visit questionnaires
Time frame: Up to 12 months post-ART initiation
Acceptability of the ART service
As captured in the study visit questionnaires
Time frame: Up to 12 months post-ART initiation
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