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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth

Date Submitted: Aug 12, 2020
Date Accepted: Feb 23, 2021

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Staff Perceptions of Preimplementation Barriers and Facilitators to a Mobile Health Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Counseling Intervention in South Africa: Qualitative Study

McCreesh-Toselli S, Torline J, Gouse H, Robbins RN, Mellins CA, Remien RH, Rowe J, Peton N, Rabie S, Joska JA

Staff Perceptions of Preimplementation Barriers and Facilitators to a Mobile Health Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Counseling Intervention in South Africa: Qualitative Study

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2021;9(4):e23280

DOI: 10.2196/23280

PMID: 33821806

PMCID: 8058692

Staff Perceptions of Pre-Implementation Barriers and Facilitators of an mHealth ART Adherence Counselling Intervention in South Africa: A qualitative study

  • Siobhan McCreesh-Toselli; 
  • John Torline; 
  • Hetta Gouse; 
  • Reuben N Robbins; 
  • Claude A Mellins; 
  • Robert H Remien; 
  • Jessica Rowe; 
  • Neshaan Peton; 
  • Stephan Rabie; 
  • John A Joska

ABSTRACT

Background:

Persons living with HIV (PLWH) in South Africa's expanding antiretroviral treatment (ART) program receive readiness counselling provided by Lay Counsellors (LCs). Both the delivery of content and counselling approach are difficult to standardize across multiple sites and providers. mHealth applications offer an opportunity in low resource settings to address these needs.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to explore the perceived pre-implementation barriers and facilitators of an mHealth intervention (“Masivukeni”) among staff at a large Cape Town-based HIV care non-profit organisation.

Methods:

Seven interviews and three focus groups were conducted with experienced LCs, their supervisors and managers. We used the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to explore perceived implementation barriers and facilitators of the Masivukeni intervention.

Results:

Several potential facilitators of the Masivukeni were identified, most notably interactive learning and facilitated updates. Barriers to implementation included security risks and costs of equipment, the high volume of patients needing to be counselled and variable computer literacy.

Conclusions:

mHealth applications, such as Masivukeni, were perceived as being well-placed to address some needs of those who deliver ART adherence counselling in South Africa. However, the successful implementation of mHealth applications appeared to be dependent- on overcoming certain barriers in this setting.


 Citation

Please cite as:

McCreesh-Toselli S, Torline J, Gouse H, Robbins RN, Mellins CA, Remien RH, Rowe J, Peton N, Rabie S, Joska JA

Staff Perceptions of Preimplementation Barriers and Facilitators to a Mobile Health Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Counseling Intervention in South Africa: Qualitative Study

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2021;9(4):e23280

DOI: 10.2196/23280

PMID: 33821806

PMCID: 8058692

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