Family Support for Adolescent Girls and Young Women Living With HIV in Zambia: Benefits, Challenges, and Recommendations for Intervention Development.
Sarah T Roberts, Patrick Edwards, Drosin Mulenga and 6 others
PMID 33332869WHAT IT FOUND
Young women living with HIV in Zambia described mothers, sisters, and grandmothers as the most trusted support for taking ART, but families often discouraged disclosure because of stigma.
Key findings
01Close family, especially mothers, sisters, and grandmothers, were the main source of support, and they often reminded participants to take ART.
02Anticipated stigma and family fears about negative reactions discouraged disclosure, sometimes leaving participants to hide their status from relatives.
03Participants were unanimous in naming at least one family member they would feel comfortable bringing to a family program, almost always a female relative; only five said they would attend with a male family member.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Participants were recruited from HIV care clinics and were already engaged in care, so this does not describe young women not in care or with poorer adherence. Self-reported adherence was not confirmed with pharmacy or biometric data. Findings are qualitative themes from 40 participants, not tested effects of an intervention. Recall and social desirability bias may affect what participants reported. Qualitative analysis is interpretive, and findings were not checked with participants.
Declared interests
The authors reported no real or perceived vested interests related to this article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that a family-based intervention improves HIV outcomes. The study described preferences and barriers among 40 young women already engaged in care, and the intervention was not tested.