Patient and health worker perspectives on quality of HIV care and treatment services in Haiti.

BACKGROUND: Poor quality of care is a barrier to engagement in HIV care and treatment in low- and middle-income country settings. This study involved focus group discussions (FGD) with patients and health workers in two large urban hospitals to describe quality of patient education and psychosocial support services within Haiti's national HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) program. The purpose of this qualitative study was to illuminate key gaps and salient "ingredients" for improving quality of care. METHODS: The study included 8 FGDs with a total of 26 male patients and 32 female patients and 15 smaller FGDs with 57 health workers. The analysis used a directed content analysis method, with the goal of extending existing conceptual frameworks on quality of care through rich description. RESULTS: Dimension of safety, patient-centeredness, accessibility, and equity were most salient. Patients noted risks to privacy with both clinic and community-based services as well as concerns with ART side effects, while health workers described risks to their own safety in providing community-based services. While patients cited examples of positive interactions with health workers that centered their needs and perspectives, they also noted concerns that inhibited trust and satisfaction with services. Health workers described difficult working conditions that challenged their ability to provide patient-centered services. Patients sought favored relationships with health workers to help them navigate the health care system, but this undermined the sense of fairness. Both patients and health workers described frustration with lack of resources to assist patients in dire poverty, and health workers described great pressure to help patients from their "own pockets." CONCLUSIONS: These concerns reflected the embeddedness of patient - provider interactions within a health system marked by scarcity, power dynamics between patients and health workers, and social stigma related to HIV. Reinforcing a respectful and welcoming atmosphere, timely service, privacy protection, and building patient perception of fairness in access to support could help to build patient satisfaction and care engagement in Haiti. Improving working conditions for health workers is also critical to achieving quality.

An EMR-based alert with brief provider-led ART adherence counseling in Haiti: effects on information, motivation, and behavioral skills (IMB) and patient-provider communication (PPC).

We examined the secondary effects of an antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence intervention on information, motivation, and behavioral skills (IMB) and patient-provider communication (PPC). Data were from a sample of 116 patients enrolled in a quasi-experimental mixed-methods study at two large ART clinics in Haiti. We examined changes in IMB and PPC scores after the intervention and the association between baseline PPC and endline IMB.The intervention was associated with increased scores in information (ß = 0.89, 95% CI [0.07, 1.70]) and motivation (ß = 2.55, 95% CI [0.38, 4.72]) but a decreased score in behavioral skills (ß = -2.39, 95% CI [-4.29, -0.49]), after controlling for demographic and clinical variables. Baseline PPC was associated with higher endline IMB total scores (ß = 0.17, 95% CI [0.02, 0.31]), controlling for demographic variables, clinical variables, and baseline IMB score. At the subscale level, baseline PPC was associated with higher endline motivation score (ß = 0.09, 95% CI [0.01, 0.17]), marginally associated with higher endline information score (ß = 0.04, 95% CI [0.00, 0.08]), after controlling for demographic and clinical variables.The intervention was beneficial to patients' adherence related motivation. Favorable patient-provider communication is associated with more motivation to adhere to ART.

The Situated Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills Model of HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Persons Living With HIV in Haiti: A Qualitative Study Incorporating Culture and Context.

ABSTRACT: To inform a clinic-based adherence-promotion intervention, this qualitative study applied the Situated Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills Model of Care Initiation and Maintenance to elucidate cultural and contextual factors affecting antiretroviral therapy adherence in Haiti. From the 23 focus group discussions with patients ( n = 58) and health care workers ( n = 57), culturally specific themes emerged relating to Information (e.g., conflicts with allopathic medicine and heuristics about how treatment failure occurs), Motivation (e.g., protecting family members, health and physical appearance, material advantages, and relationships with health workers), and Behavioral Skills (e.g., managing food intake and side effects, navigating health services utilization, accessing medication, and advocating for care needs). Recommendations include: provide therapeutic education on HIV drug resistance; promote the concept of "undetectable = untransmittable"; develop treatment buddy relationships; invest in training and enforcement of patient privacy, transparency, and fairness in access to services and resources; and provide patient-centered behavioral skills counseling.

Patient-Provider Communication and Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills in HIV-Positive Adults Initiating Antiretroviral Therapy in Haiti.

While Haiti has scaled up use of antiretroviral therapy (ART), current studies suggest sub-optimal adherence threatens long-term viral suppression in this understudied setting. Patient-provider communication (PPC) and information, motivation, and behavioral skills (IMB) have been implicated in ART adherence globally. However, no studies have examined their relevance in Haiti. The present mixed-methods study utilized cross-sectional survey data from 128 ART-initiating patients at 2 large HIV treatment sites in Haiti, as well as observational data from 12 clinic visits, to document associations between adherence-related PPC and IMB. Multivariate regression analyses suggested that PPC is associated with IMB constructs. At the bivariate level, more effective PPC was associated with higher levels of adherence-related information and motivation, but not behavioral skills. Observational findings indicate infrequent and non-collaborative adherence support. Taken together, findings lay the groundwork for additional research in the area of PPC, IMB, and ART adherence in Haiti.

An EMR-Based Alert with Brief Provider-Led ART Adherence Counseling: Promising Results of the InfoPlus Adherence Pilot Study Among Haitian Adults with HIV Initiating ART.

To promote HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) outcomes in Haiti, we developed a culturally relevant intervention (InfoPlus Adherence) that combines an electronic medical record alert identifying patients at elevated risk of treatment failure and provider-delivered brief problem-solving counseling. We conducted a quasi-experimental mixed-methods study among 146 patients at two large ART clinics in Haiti with 728 historical controls. We conducted quantitative assessments of patients at baseline and intervention completion (6 months) as well as focus groups with health workers and exit interviews with patients. The primary quantitative outcome measures were HIV viral suppression according to medical record and ART adherence in terms of ≥ 90% for "proportion of days covered" (PDC) according to pharmacy dispensing data. Results indicated that the proportion of intervention patients with suppressed VL during the study/historical periods was 80.0%/86.0% and 76.8%/87.4% for controls. In a difference-in-differences (DID) analytic model, the adjusted relative risk for viral suppression with the intervention was 1.15 (95% CI 0.92-1.45, p = 0.21), representing favorable but non-significant association between the intervention and the trajectory of VL outcomes. PDC ≥ 90% during the study/historical periods was 30.9%/11.0% among intervention participants and 16.9%/19.4% among controls. In the adjusted DID model, the relative risk for of PDC ≥ 90% with the intervention was 4.00 (95% CI 1.91-8.38, p < 0.001), representing a highly favorable association between the intervention and the trajectory of PDC outcomes. Qualitative data affirmed acceptability of the intervention, although providers reported some challenges consistently implementing it. Future research is needed to demonstrate efficacy and explore optimal implementation strategies.

Local and national stakeholders' perceptions towards implementing and scaling up HIV self-testing and secondary distribution of HIV self-testing by Option B+ patients as an assisted partner service strategy to reach men in Haiti.

HIV self-testing (HIVST), which allows people to test in private, is an innovative testing strategy that has been shown to increase HIV testing among men. Delivering HIVST kits to men via women is one promising assisted partner service strategy. Little research has been conducted on HIVST secondary distribution to men by women living with HIV (WLWH) in the Caribbean and other settings. The purpose of this study was to assess the perspectives of WLWH, their male partners, and healthcare professionals on the perceived advantages and disadvantages of HIVST, and recommendations for implementing HIVST in Haiti, with a focus on secondary distribution of HIVST to men by WLWH. Sixteen key informant interviews and nine focus groups with 44 healthcare workers, 31 Option B+ clients, and 13 men were carried out in Haiti. Key informants were representatives of the Ministry of Health and of a non-governmental agency involved in HIV partner services. Focus group members included program leads and staff members from the HIV care and treatment program, the Option B+ program, the community health service program, and the HIV counseling and testing services from 2 hospitals. Perceived HIVST advantage included an increase in the number of people who would learn their HIV status and start treatment. The perceived disadvantages were lack of support to ensure self-testers initiate treatment, uncertainty about male partner's reaction, risk of violence towards women delivering HIVST kits after receiving an HIVST kit from a woman, and the inability of women to counsel a man in case his self-test result is positive. Recommendations for integrating HIVST and secondary distribution of HIVST by WLWH included coupling HIVST distribution with public information, education, and communication through media and social marketing, relying on community health workers to mediate use of HIVST and ensure linkage to care, piloting HIVST programs on a small scale. HIVST is an appropriate and feasible strategy HIV prevention for men and women; however, more research is needed on how best to implement different strategies for this approach in the Caribbean.