Experiences of adolescents and youth with HIV testing and linkage to care through the Red Carpet Program (RCP) in Kenya.
Adolescents and youth living with HIV (AYLHIV) experience worse health outcomes compared to adults. We aimed to understand the experiences of AYLHIV in care in the youth-focused Red-Carpet program in Kenya to assess the quality of service provision and identify programmatic areas for optimization. W...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296786&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1827376795872133120 |
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| author | Judith Kose Tyriesa Howard Cosima Lenz Rose Masaba Job Akuno Godfrey Woelk Pieter Leendert Fraaij Natella Rakhmanina |
| author_facet | Judith Kose Tyriesa Howard Cosima Lenz Rose Masaba Job Akuno Godfrey Woelk Pieter Leendert Fraaij Natella Rakhmanina |
| author_sort | Judith Kose |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Adolescents and youth living with HIV (AYLHIV) experience worse health outcomes compared to adults. We aimed to understand the experiences of AYLHIV in care in the youth-focused Red-Carpet program in Kenya to assess the quality of service provision and identify programmatic areas for optimization. We conducted focus group discussions among 39 AYLHIV (15-24 years) and structured analysis into four thematic areas. Within the HIV testing theme, participants cited fear of positive results, confidentiality and stigma concerns, and suggested engaging the community and youth in HIV testing opportunities. Within the HIV treatment adherence theme, participants cited forgetfulness, stigma, adverse side effects, lack of family support, and treatment illiteracy as barriers to adherence. Most participants reported positive experiences with healthcare providers and peer support. In terms of the HIV status disclosure theme, AYLHIV cited concerns about their future capacity to conceive children and start families and discussed challenges with understanding HIV health implications and sharing their status with friends and partners. Youth voices informing service implementation are essential in strengthening our capacity to optimize the support for AYLHIV within the community, at schools and healthcare facilities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:28:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1a617a16731b40a392c8205feea90e11 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:28:59Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-1a617a16731b40a392c8205feea90e112024-01-22T05:31:27ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01191e029678610.1371/journal.pone.0296786Experiences of adolescents and youth with HIV testing and linkage to care through the Red Carpet Program (RCP) in Kenya.Judith KoseTyriesa HowardCosima LenzRose MasabaJob AkunoGodfrey WoelkPieter Leendert FraaijNatella RakhmaninaAdolescents and youth living with HIV (AYLHIV) experience worse health outcomes compared to adults. We aimed to understand the experiences of AYLHIV in care in the youth-focused Red-Carpet program in Kenya to assess the quality of service provision and identify programmatic areas for optimization. We conducted focus group discussions among 39 AYLHIV (15-24 years) and structured analysis into four thematic areas. Within the HIV testing theme, participants cited fear of positive results, confidentiality and stigma concerns, and suggested engaging the community and youth in HIV testing opportunities. Within the HIV treatment adherence theme, participants cited forgetfulness, stigma, adverse side effects, lack of family support, and treatment illiteracy as barriers to adherence. Most participants reported positive experiences with healthcare providers and peer support. In terms of the HIV status disclosure theme, AYLHIV cited concerns about their future capacity to conceive children and start families and discussed challenges with understanding HIV health implications and sharing their status with friends and partners. Youth voices informing service implementation are essential in strengthening our capacity to optimize the support for AYLHIV within the community, at schools and healthcare facilities.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296786&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Judith Kose Tyriesa Howard Cosima Lenz Rose Masaba Job Akuno Godfrey Woelk Pieter Leendert Fraaij Natella Rakhmanina Experiences of adolescents and youth with HIV testing and linkage to care through the Red Carpet Program (RCP) in Kenya. PLoS ONE |
| title | Experiences of adolescents and youth with HIV testing and linkage to care through the Red Carpet Program (RCP) in Kenya. |
| title_full | Experiences of adolescents and youth with HIV testing and linkage to care through the Red Carpet Program (RCP) in Kenya. |
| title_fullStr | Experiences of adolescents and youth with HIV testing and linkage to care through the Red Carpet Program (RCP) in Kenya. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experiences of adolescents and youth with HIV testing and linkage to care through the Red Carpet Program (RCP) in Kenya. |
| title_short | Experiences of adolescents and youth with HIV testing and linkage to care through the Red Carpet Program (RCP) in Kenya. |
| title_sort | experiences of adolescents and youth with hiv testing and linkage to care through the red carpet program rcp in kenya |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296786&type=printable |
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