Project Summary:
Informal health providers, including traditional healers, play a significant role in providing care to over 80% of rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa through counseling, physical therapy, and herbal remedies. In regions with suboptimal HIV outcomes and barriers to accessing biomedical care, traditional healers often act as the primary healthcare providers. Collaborating with traditional healers in rural Uganda, it has been observed that they can effectively support people living with HIV (PLWH), with around 10% of adult PLWH receiving care from them in the Mbarara District.
A cluster randomized trial conducted in 2021 demonstrated that traditional healers can improve HIV testing rates in rural Ugandan communities. Based on this, a new intervention called Omuyambi ("Support" in Runyankole) will be implemented, aiming to enhance virologic suppression among rural PLWH by training traditional healers in HIV counseling and testing, facilitating rapid linkage to care for antiretroviral therapy initiation, and providing counseling on medication adherence and retention in HIV care. This intervention will complement routine clinical HIV care and address barriers to care at individual, interpersonal, and health system levels.
Specific Aim 1: Compare Omuyambi versus HIV clinic-based care (control) in a cluster randomized trial.
Specific Aim 2: Evaluate implementation of the Omuyambi intervention using a convergent, mixed methods study design and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).
Study Updates
Coming soon!
