Principal Investigators - Professor Mosepele Mosepele, MD, MSc | Laura Bogart, PhD

Study Status/Accomplishments:

1. Focus group interviews with 35 healthcare providers within Gaborone clinics have been conducted.
2. All the interviews have been transcribed and analysed for common themes to inform the intervention design.
3. 2 clinics selected for the study: Nkoyaphiri (Intervention clinic) and Phase 2 (Control clinic).
4. Final intervention design and training have been done with healthcare providers at selected intervention clinic and received well. 

We continue to engage with selected sites and trouble-shoot ways of carrying out the proposed research work.

Study Aims:

1. To develop a multi-level treatment partner intervention with input from community and healthcare provider stakeholders in Botswana. This will guide healthcare providers and patients about treatment partner selection, and train treatment partners on how to provide effective social support
2. To conduct a pilot test of the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects on viral suppression of a multi-level treatment partner intervention.

Recruitment in Process; 14 pairs for control clinic recruited and 2 pairs for intervention clinic recruited.

Study Design: Mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) intervention development and pilot study; small pilot randomized controlled trial.

Study Population: We are recruiting 80 people living with HIV who are not virally suppressed and their 80 treatment partners in a matched clinic pair (2 clinics total; 40 dyads/clinic) in Gaborone, Botswana.

Sample Size:

• Healthcare providers: 35 providers for focus groups for aim 1, and 10 providers for focus group in Aim 2.
• People with HIV: 40 participants.
• Treatment partners for people with HIV: 40 participants. 

Study Duration: 2019-2022

Sponsor: National Institute of Child Health (NICHD).