Motivational interviewing experiences from a community health worker-led HIV prevention and care intervention in rural Uganda: a qualitative study.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Community Health Workers (CHWs) are increasingly utilized in global settings to improve HIV outcomes, yet research exploring implementation strategies using MI and CHWs is lacking. We examined the experiences of CHWs and their clients in a counseling intervention which used MI-informed counseling to increase engagement in HIV prevention and treatment. This study was nested within the mLAKE cluster-randomized trial in a high HIV prevalence fishing community in rural Rakai District, Uganda. We conducted in-depth interviews with purposively-sampled CHWs (n = 8) and clients (n = 51). Transcripts were analyzed thematically to characterize CHWs' implementation of the intervention. Main themes identified included use of specific MI strategies (including evocation, guidance towards positive behavior change, active listening, and open-ended questions), and MI spirit (including collaboration, power-sharing, trust, and non-judgmental relationship building). Through these specific MI mechanisms, CHWs supported client behavior change to facilitate engagement with HIV services. This study provides evidence from a low-resource setting that CHWs with no previous experience in MI can successfully implement MI-informed counseling that is well-received by clients. CHW-led MI-informed counseling appears to be a feasible and effective approach to increase uptake of HIV prevention and care services in low-resource, HIV endemic regions.

Primary care provider notions on instituting community-based geriatric support in Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Understanding of the most economical and sustainable models of providing geriatric care to Africa's rising ageing population is critical. In Uganda, the number of old adults (60 years and above) continues to rise against absence of policies and guidelines, and models for providing care to this critical population. Our study explored public primary health care provider views on how best community-based geriatric support (CBGS) could be instituted as an adaptable model for delivering geriatric care in Uganda's resource-limited primary public health care settings. METHODS: We interviewed 20 key informants from four districts of Bukomansimbi, Kalungu, Rakai, and Lwengo in Southern Central Uganda. Respondents were leads (in-charges) of public primary health units that had spent at least 6 months at the fore said facilities. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed based on Hsieh and Shannon's approach to conventional manifest content analysis. RESULTS: During analysis, four themes emerged: 1) Structures to leverage for CBGS, 2) How to promote CBGS, 3) Who should be involved in CBGS, and 4) What activities need to be leveraged to advance CBGS? The majority of the respondents viewed using the existing village health team and local leadership structures as key to the successful institutionalization of CBGS; leveraging community education and sensitization using radio, television, and engaging health workers, family relatives, and neighbors. Health outreach activities were mentioned as one of the avenues that could be leveraged to provide CBGS. CONCLUSION: Provider notions pointed to CBGS as a viable model for instituting geriatric care in Uganda's public primary healthcare system. However, this requires policymakers to leverage existing village health team and local governance structures, conduct community education and sensitization about CBGS, and bring onboard health workers, family relatives, and neighbors.