Assessing implementation of teen clubs for HIV+ adolescents: case study for Lilongwe and Dowa health facilities
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Date
2020-10-01
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Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
Abstract
Adolescents bear a significant proportion of global disease burden including HIV and AIDS. Despite the roll out of HIV and AIDS services and ART programs in sub-Saharan countries including Malawi, adolescents continue to face challenges in accessing the services. This is due to poor design of service delivery strategies that are not sensitive to their health needs. Differentiated care model, also known as Teen Club emerged as a proven intervention to bridge the gap for provision of HIV and AIDS services for HIV positive adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess how the Teen Club model is being implemented to establish service utilization and sustainability. This was a facility based cross-sectional study conducted at Dowa and Lilongwe District Hospitals. Mixed method approach was employed. Eight service providers were recruited using purposive sampling to collect qualitative data using in-depth interviews and analyzed using Nvivo 8.0. Quantitative data was collected using a checklist and analyzed using SPSS v 20. Ethical approval was sought from College of Medicine Research and Ethics Committee. The study revealed various gaps on how Teen Clubs are being implemented affecting sustainability of the model. Bottle necks include inadequate provider trainings, lack of permanent funding and poor integration of the model into HIV programs at facility level.
Poor implementation of Teen Club in the areas under study has affected maintenance of the model and service access by the adolescents. Therefore, there is need to develop a minimum standard service delivery package that would be adopted and supported by all key players in order to sustain the model and improve service utilization.