'Are we allowed to disclose?': a healthcare team's experiences of talking with children and adolescents about their HIV status

Truth-telling to the seriously ill child - Nurses' experiences, attitudes, and beliefs

BACKGROUND

Nurses play an integral role in the care of children hospitalised with a serious illness. Although information about diagnostics, treatments, and prognosis are generally conveyed to parents and caregivers of seriously ill children by physicians, nurses spend a significant amount of time at the child's bedside and have an acknowledged role in helping patients and families understand the information that they have been given by a doctor. Hence, the ethical role of the nurse in truth disclosure to children is worth exploring.

METHODS

A systematic academic database and grey literature search strategy was conducted using CINAHL, Medline Psych Info, and Google Scholar. Keywords used included truth, children, nurse, disclosure, serious illness, and communication. A total of 17 publications of varying types were included in the final data set.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

As this was a review of the literature, there were no direct human participants. Empirical studies included in the review had received ethics approval.

RESULTS

Of the 17 articles included in the review, only one directly reported on the experiences of nurses asked to withhold the truth from patients. Empirical studies were limited to HIV-positive children and children diagnosed with cancer and the dying child.

CONCLUSION

A paucity of literature exploring the experiences, attitudes, and beliefs of nurses with regard to truth-telling to seriously ill children is evident. Little consideration has been given to the role nurses play in communicating medical information to children in a hospital setting. The 17 articles included in the review focused on cancer, and HIV, diagnosis, and end-of-life care. Further research should be undertaken to explore the experiences and attitudes of nurses to clinical information sharing to children hospitalised with a wide range of serious illnesses and in diverse clinical scenarios.

Predictors and consequences of HIV status disclosure to adolescents living with HIV in Eastern Cape, South Africa: a prospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION

The World Health Organization recommends full disclosure of HIV-positive status to adolescents who acquired HIV perinatally (APHIV) by age 12. However, even among adolescents (aged 10-19) already on antiretroviral therapy (ART), disclosure rates are low. Caregivers often report the child being too young and fear of disclosure worsening adolescents' mental health as reasons for non-disclosure. We aimed to identify the predictors of disclosure and the association of disclosure with adherence, viral suppression and mental health outcomes among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.

METHODS

Analyses included three rounds (2014-2018) of data collected among a closed cohort of adolescents living with HIV in Eastern Cape, South Africa. We used logistic regression with respondent random-effects to identify factors associated with disclosure, and assess differences in ART adherence, viral suppression and mental health symptoms between adolescents by disclosure status. We also explored differences in the change in mental health symptoms and adherence between study rounds and disclosure groups with logistic regression.

RESULTS

Eight hundred and thirteen APHIV were interviewed at baseline, of whom 769 (94.6%) and 729 (89.7%) were interviewed at the second and third rounds, respectively. The proportion aware of their HIV-positive status increased from 63.1% at the first round to 85.5% by the third round. Older age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.27; 1.08-1.48) and living in an urban location (aOR: 2.85; 1.72-4.73) were associated with disclosure between interviews. There was no association between awareness of HIV-positive status and ART adherence, viral suppression or mental health symptoms among all APHIV interviewed. However, among APHIV not aware of their status at baseline, adherence decreased at the second round among those who were disclosed to (N = 131) and increased among those not disclosed to (N = 151) (interaction aOR: 0.39; 0.19-0.80). There was no significant difference in the change in mental health symptoms between study rounds and disclosure groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Awareness of HIV-positive status was not associated with higher rates of mental health symptoms, or lower rates of viral suppression among adolescents. Disclosure was not associated with worse mental health. These findings support the recommendation for timely disclosure to APHIV; however, adherence support post-disclosure is important.

Communication of HIV diagnosis in proper time: scoping review

OBJECTIVE

To map how the communication of the HIV infection diagnosis occurs in pediatrics.

METHODS

Scoping review of the 64 original articles. We selected research papers in Portuguese, English, or Spanish, with the participants: child, adolescent, relative/family, and/or health professional from 2011-2020. We accessed the following sources: PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, WoS, ASSIA, PsycINFO, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, Edubase, LILACS, BDENF, and IndexPsi.

RESULTS

Regarding the population, it was evident to us that the relative must be the sender of the diagnosis with the professionals' support; regarding the reasons for the communication, the child maturity, expressed by questions, the necessity of therapy adherence, abilities to communicate and the right of knowing the diagnosis must be considered. The communication channel is centered on materials that promote comprehension, quantity, and quality of information. That indicated an interactive process. Regarding the effects, they are beneficial when the communication occurs at a proper time.

CONCLUSION

Communication must occur through a process that includes professional support to the relatives/family, development of abilities to evaluate the appropriate moment, and the monitoring effect.

Telling Children with Perinatal HIV About Their HIV Serostatus: Healthcare Workers' Practices and Barriers to Disclosing in a South African Rural Health District

In South Africa, caregivers and healthcare workers (HCWs) lack confidence and skills to disclose to children with perinatal HIV (PHIV). Moreover, existing disclosure guidelines do not provide strategies on how to approach disclosure. Although the caregiver has been endorsed as a responsible person to disclose to the child, the involvement of HCWs in the process is critical. Yet research suggests that many HCWs are reluctant to perform disclosure. This study examines the involvement in, practices of, and barriers against HCWs’ disclosing to children with PHIV.

How do healthcare professionals respond to ethical challenges regarding information management? A review of empirical studies

Aim

This study is a systematic review that aims to assess how healthcare professionals manage ethical challenges regarding information within the clinical context.

Method and Materials

We carried out searches in PubMed, Google Scholar and Embase, using two search strings; searches generated 665 hits. After screening, 47 articles relevant to the study aim were selected for review. Seven articles were identified through snowballing, and 18 others were included following a system update in PubMed, bringing the total number of articles reviewed to 72. We used a Q-sort technique for the analysis of identified articles.

Findings

This study reveals that healthcare professionals around the world generally employ (to varying degrees) four broad strategies to manage different types of challenges regarding information, which can be categorized as challenges related to confidentiality, communication, professional duty, and decision-making. The strategies employed for managing these challenges include resolution, consultation, stalling, and disclosure/concealment.

Conclusion

There are a variety of strategies which health professionals can adopt to address challenges regarding information management within the clinical context. This insight complements current efforts aimed at enhancing health professional-patient communication. Very few studies have researched the results of employing these various strategies. Future empirical studies are required to address this.

Abbreviations

CIOMS: Council of International Organization of Medical Sciences; WHO: World Health Organization; AMA: American Medical Association; WMA: World Medical Association; PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis; ISCO: International Standard Classification of Occupations; ILO: International Labour Office; SPSS: The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

The Consequences of Delaying Telling Children with Perinatal HIV About Their Diagnosis as Perceived by Healthcare Workers in the Eastern Cape; A Qualitative Study

Although the benefits of disclosure are considerable, informing children with perinatal HIV of their own HIV status is often delayed to late adolescence. This study examined the social and contextual challenges that influence delaying disclosure to children and assessed the outcomes of delayed disclosure on the psychosocial health of children as perceived by the healthcare workers (HCWs) providing care to these children. Data were collected from HCWs via focus group discussions. Nurses, lay counsellors, social workers, and dieticians were selected from facilities in a rural South African health district. Thematic analysis was performed. The caregivers’ social context was the main barrier against informing children timely about their HIV diagnosis. The extent of the internalised HIV stigma influenced the delay in disclosing to the children. Delaying disclosure contributes to children’s refusing to take their medication, leads to the accidental disclosure of HIV, give rise to anger and resentment towards the caregiver, increase the risk of secondary transmitting of HIV, and poor health outcomes. It is essential to train HCWs to support caregivers and children through the disclosure process to ensure that caregivers realise the benefits of disclosure. Strategies to encourage caregivers to disclose early should be sensitive to their concerns about the negative impacts of disclosure.

Disclosure of human immunodeficiency virus status to children in South Africa: A comprehensive analysis

Background

The extent of disclosure of HIV status to children and adolescents and the context facilitating their disclosure process have received little attention.

Objectives

To assess disclosure and provide a comprehensive analysis of characteristics associated with disclosure to children (3–14 years) receiving antiretroviral treatment in a South African semi-urban clinic.

Methods

This cross-sectional study used structured interview administered questionnaires which were supplemented with medical record data. Predictors included child, caregiver, clinical and socio-economic characteristics, viral suppression, immune response, adherence, health-related quality of life and family functioning.

Results

We included 190 children of whom 45 (23.7%) received disclosure about their HIV status, of whom 28 (14.7%) were partially disclosed and 17 (8.9%) were fully disclosed. Older age of the child and higher education of the caregiver were strongly associated with disclosure. Female caregivers, detectable viral load, syrup formulation, protease inhibitor (PI) regimens with stavudine and didanosine, and self-reported non-adherence were strongly associated with non-disclosure.

Conclusion

When children do well on treatment, caregivers feel less stringent need to disclose. Well-functioning families, higher educated caregivers and better socio-economic status enabled and promoted disclosure. Non-disclosure can indicate a sub-optimal social structure which could negatively affect adherence and viral suppression. There is an urgent need to address disclosure thoughtfully and proactively in the long-term disease management. For the disclosure process to be beneficial, an enabling supportive context is important, which will provide a great opportunity for future interventions.

The challenges of timely and safe HIV disclosure among perinatally HIV-infected adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Improved access to antiretroviral therapy has resulted in an emerging population of adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Full disclosure of an HIV diagnosis includes naming HIV/AIDS and is an important step in coping with HIV. We reviewed the recent trends in the rates of children/adolescents who have been informed of their HIV infection according to age groups, the barriers and the evaluated interventions aimed at improving the HIV disclosure process to ALHIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

RECENT FINDINGS

Literature shows that HIV disclosure remains challenging in sub-Saharan Africa. Although full HIV disclosure rates have increased recently, this is still insufficient and occurs at a late age (median 13 years). Individual disclosure is the main practice but group sessions involving adolescent peers also exist. The practice of the disclosure is often complex, because of multiple barriers related to caregivers (fear of the parents of the breaking of the family secrecy, feelings of guilt) and to healthcare workers (lack of training, excess workload).

SUMMARY

The development and evaluation of research interventions adapted to sociocultural contexts to support timely and safe HIV disclosure to ALHIV is urgently needed to reach the 90-90-90 UNAIDS targets.

Healthcare Workers' Perspectives on the Barriers to Providing HIV Services to Children in Sub-Saharan Africa

Background

In order to accelerate the HIV response to meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 indicators for children, healthcare workers need to lead a scale-up of HIV services in primary healthcare settings. Such a scale-up will require investigation into existing barriers that prevent healthcare workers from effectively providing those services to children. Furthermore, if the identified barriers are not well understood, designing context-specific and effective public health response programmes may prove difficult.

Objective

This study reviews the current literature pertaining to healthcare workers' perspectives on the barriers to providing HIV services to children in the primary care setting in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods

English articles published between 2010 and April 2018 were searched in electronic databases including Sabinet, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Key search words used during the search were “healthcare workers' perspectives” and “barriers to providing HIV testing to children” OR “barriers to ART adherence AND children” and “barriers to HIV disclosure AND children.” Results. There are various barriers to provider-initiated counselling and testing (PICT) of children and disclosure of HIV status to children, including the following: lack of child-friendly infrastructure at clinics; lack of consensus on legal age of consent for both HIV testing and disclosure; healthcare worker unfamiliarity with HIV testing and disclosure guidelines; lack of training in child psychology; and confusion around the healthcare worker's role, which most believed was only to provide health education and clinical services and to correct false information, but not to participate in disclosure. Additionally, primary caregivers were reported to be a barrier to care and treatment of children as they continue to refuse HIV testing for their children and delay disclosure.

Conclusion

Training, mentoring, and providing healthcare workers with guidelines on how to provide child-focused HIV care have the potential to address the majority of the barriers to the provision of child-friendly HIV services to children. However, the need to educate primary caregivers on the importance of testing children and disclosing to them is equally important.

A Phenomenological Account of HIV Disclosure Experiences of Children and Adolescents from Northern and Southern Ghana

Disclosure of HIV status to infected children, though challenged by caregiver dilemma, remains central in achieving the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) global goal of 90/90/90. This study explores children’s HIV disclosure experiences across Northern and Southern Ghana. A qualitative interpretative phenomenological design facilitated the recruitment of 30 HIV positive disclosed children and adolescents aged 9–19 years in 12 antiretroviral treatment (ART) centers in Northern and Southern Ghana between January 2017 and June 2018. Data was collected via in-depth interviews. We used phenomenological analysis applying concepts and categories identification, patterns and interconnections searching, mapping, theme building and constant comparative technique to draw conclusions. Disclosure of HIV status to children occurred with little or no preparation. Caregivers intentionally or out of dilemma often prolonged or postponed disclosure to when children aged older. Illness severity and disease progression principally defined the need for disclosure. Children preference for early status disclosure averaged at age 10 was demonstrated despite the initial disclosure experience of shock and disappointment. There was improved medication adherence despite the challenge of limited knowledge about HIV transmission, financial difficulty and food insecurity. Context and culturally adapted pre- and post- disclosure guideline laced with social protection package is needed to support HIV positive children.

Healthcare workers' perspectives and practices regarding the disclosure of HIV status to children in Malawi: a cross-sectional study

Background

In 2011 the World Health Organisation recommended that children with a diagnosis of HIV be gradually informed about their HIV status between the ages of 6 and 12 years. However, to date, literature has focused mainly on primary caregiver and child experiences with HIV disclosure, little is known about healthcare workers’ perspectives and practices of HIV status disclosure to children. The aim of this study was to assess healthcare workers’ perspectives and practices regarding the disclosure of HIV status to children aged between 6 and 12 years in Malawi.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from 168 healthcare providers working in antiretroviral clinics in all government District and Tertiary Hospitals in Malawi. Participants were asked questions regarding their knowledge, practice, and barriers to HIV disclosure. Data were analysed using binary logistic regression.

Results

Almost all healthcare workers (98%) reported that it was important to disclose HIV status to children. A significant proportion (37%) reported that they had never disclosed HIV status to a child and about half estimated that the rate of HIV disclosure at their facility was 25% or less. The main barriers to disclosure were lack of training on disclosure (85%) and lack of a standard tool for disclosure (84%). Female healthcare workers (aOR) 2.4; 95% CI: 1.1–5.5) and lack of training on disclosure (aOR 7.7; 95% CI: 3.4–10.7) were independently associated with never having disclosed HIV status to a child.

Conclusions

This study highlights the need for providing appropriate training in HIV disclosure for healthcare workers and the provision of standardised disclosure materials.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-018-3354-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Breaking Down Barriers to Tell: A Mixed Methods Study of Health Worker Involvement in Disclosing to Children That They Are Living with HIV in Rural South Africa

Disclosing to a child that s/he is living with HIV is necessary to promote adherence to treatment and improve health outcomes. Facilitating disclosure between caregivers and children remains a challenge for health workers. Understanding how health workers are involved in and perceive the disclosure process is integral to engaging with such challenges. We held group discussions with and surveyed 73 physicians, nurses, and counselors across 16 randomly selected facilities in two rural South African health districts, exploring their experiences of supporting disclosure between caregivers and children. Ninety percent of those surveyed agreed that children should be informed of their HIV status. Differences between categories of health workers regarding training, involvement in the disclosure process, and perceived responsibility for disclosure support led to inconsistent disclosure practices within facilities. Disclosure-strengthening interventions must consider the composition of the health worker team and the role that each category of health worker performs in their local settings.

"Experiences with disclosure of HIV-positive status to the infected child": Perspectives of healthcare providers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Background

The specific age to which an HIV infected child can be disclosed to is stipulated to begin between ages 4 and 6 years. It has also been documented that before disclosure of HIV positive status to the infected child. Health care providers should consider children’s cognitive-developmental ability. However, observation and situation analysis show that, health care providers still feel uncomfortable disclosing the HIV positive status to the infected child. The aim of the study was to explore healthcare providers’ experiences in disclosure of HIV-positive status to the infected child.

Methods

A qualitative study involving 20 health care providers who attend HIV-positive children was conducted in September, 2014 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Participants were selected from ten HIV care and treatment clinics (CTC) by purposive sampling. An interview guide, translated into participants’ national language (Kiswahili) was used during in-depth interviews. Sampling followed the principle of data saturation. The interviews focused on perspectives of health-care providers regarding their experience with paediatric HIV disclosure. Data from in-depth interviews were transcribed into text; data analysis followed qualitative content analysis.

Results

The results show how complex the process of disclosure to children living with HIV can be to healthcare providers. Confusion was noted among healthcare providers about their role and responsibility in the process of disclosing to the HIV infected child. This was reported to be largely due to unclear guidelines and lack of standardized training in paediatric HIV disclosure. Furthermore, healthcare providers were concerned about parental hesitancy to disclose early to the child due to lack of disclosure skills and fear of stigma. In order to improve the disclosure process in HIV infected children, healthcare providers recommended further standardized training on paediatric HIV disclosure with more emphasis on practical skills and inclusion of disclosure content that is age appropriate for children with HIV.

Discussion

The disclosure process was found to be a complex process. Perspectives regarding disclosure in children infected with HIV varied among healthcare providers in terms of their role in the process, clear national guidelines and appropriate standardized training for paediatric disclosure. Consistent with other studies, healthcare providers reported difficulties during disclosure because parents /guardians largely fear blame, social stigma, child's negative emotional reaction when disclosed to and have concerns about the child being too young and immature to understand the HIV condition.

Conclusions

In order to prevent inconsistencies during the disclosure process, it is important to have in place clear guidelines and standardized paediatric HIV disclosure training for healthcare providers. This would help improve their skills in paediatric disclosure, leading to positive health outcomes for children infected with HIV.

Why Tell Children: A Synthesis of the Global Literature on Reasons for Disclosing or Not Disclosing an HIV Diagnosis to Children 12 and under

While the psychological and health benefits of knowing one's HIV diagnosis have been documented for adults and adolescents, practice is still in development for younger children. Moderating conditions for whether or not to tell a child he/she has HIV vary by region and local context. They include accessibility of treatment, consideration of HIV as a stigmatizing condition, prevalence of HIV, and an accompanying presumption that any illness is HIV-related, parent or caregiver concerns about child reactions, child's worsening health, assumptions about childhood and child readiness to know a diagnosis, and lack of policies such as those that would prevent bullying of affected children in schools. In this systematic review of the global literature, we summarize the reasons caregivers give for telling or not telling children 12 and under their HIV diagnosis. We also include articles in which children reflect on their desires for being told. While a broad number of reasons are given for telling a child - e.g., to aid in prevention, adaptation to illness (e.g., primarily to promote treatment adherence), understanding social reactions, and maintaining the child-adult relationship - a narrower range of reasons, often related to immediate child or caregiver well-being or discomfort, are given for not telling. Recommendations are made to improve the context for disclosure by providing supports before, during, and after disclosure and to advance the research agenda by broadening samples and refining approaches.

Perspectives and Practice of HIV Disclosure to Children and Adolescents by Health-Care Providers and Caregivers in sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest prevalence of HIV globally, and this is due to persistent new HIV infections and decline in HIV/AIDS-related mortality from improved access to antiretroviral (ART) therapy. There is a limited body of work on perspectives of health-care providers (HCPs) concerning disclosing outcomes of HIV investigations to children and adolescents in SSA. Most studies are country-specific, indicating a need for a regional scope.

OBJECTIVE

To review the current literature on the perspectives of HCPs and caregivers of children and adolescents on age group-specific and culture-sensitive HIV disclosure practice.

METHODS

Electronic database search in PubMed, Google scholar, and the University of South Florida Library Discovery Tool (January 2006 up to February 2016). Further internet search was conducted using the journal author name estimator search engine and extracting bibliographies of relevant articles. Search terms included "disclosure*," "HIV guidelines," "sub-Saharan Africa," "clinical staff," "ART," "antiretroviral adherence," "people living with HIV," "pediatric HIV," "HIV," "AIDS," "health care provider," (HCP), "caregiver," "adolescent," "primary care physicians," "nurses," and "patients." Only studies related to HIV/AIDS disclosure, HCPs, and caregivers that clearly described perspectives and interactions during disclosure of HIV/AIDS sero-status to affected children and adolescents were included. Independent extraction of articles was conducted by reviewers using predefined criteria. Nineteen articles met inclusion criteria. Most studies were convenience samples consisting of combinations of children, adolescents, HCPs, and caregivers. Key findings were categorized into disclosure types, prevalence, facilitators, timing, process, persons best to disclose, disclosure setting, barriers, and outcomes of disclosure.

CONCLUSION

Partial disclosure is appropriate for children in SSA up to early adolescence. Caregivers should be directly involved in disclosing to children but they require adequate disclosure support from HCPs. Full disclosure is suitable for adolescents. Adolescents prefer disclosure by HCPs and they favor peer-group support from committed peers and trained facilitators, to reduce stigma. HCPs need continuous training and adequate resources to disclose in a patient-centered manner.

Issues around childhood disclosure of HIV status - findings from a qualitative study in West Bengal, India

INTRODUCTION

Informing the children living with HIV (CLH) about their disease (disclosure) is important from the perspective of disease treatment and overall psychosocial development. There are no published studies that qualitatively explored HIV disclosure-related issues among CLH in India. Our aim was to provide insights into the perceptions of informal caregivers of CLH regarding childhood disclosure.

METHODS

Children were defined as those aged <16 years. In-depth interviews were conducted with 34 primary caregivers of CLH aged 8 to 15 years old who were residing in West Bengal, India. The participants were recruited with the help of a community-based organization that provides need-based services to people living with HIV.

RESULTS

We obtained caregivers' perspectives on the motivators and barriers of childhood disclosure. Health benefits such as medication adherence emerged as an important motivator, while distress caused by disclosure and potential for stigma were identified as barriers. Health care providers were the preferred disclosers for most caregivers, followed by the caregivers themselves. Some caregivers wanted their child to learn about his/her HIV status by him/herself. There was no consensus among the caregivers about the ideal age for disclosure. Many preferred to wait until the child attained maturity or was of marriageable age.

DISCUSSION

Disclosure of HIV status to children is an emotional issue, both for the caregiver and the child. Like most low-or middle-income countries, no standardized, age-appropriate disclosure guidelines exist in India. Our findings advocate adoption of a multi-faceted approach, including increased availability of social and familial support, for childhood HIV disclosure.

Falling through the gaps: how should HIV programmes respond to families that persistently deny treatment to children?

Introduction

Children living with HIV rely on adult caregivers for access to HIV testing and care, including clinical monitoring and adherence to treatment. Yet, many caregivers confront barriers to ensuring children's care, including fear of disclosure of the child's or the parents’ HIV status, competing family demands, fluctuating care arrangements and broader structural factors such as entrenched poverty or alternative beliefs about HIV's aetiology and treatment. Thus, many children are “falling through the gaps” because their access to testing and care is mediated by guardians who appear unable or unwilling to facilitate it. These children are likely to suffer treatment failure or death due to their caregivers’ recalcitrance.

Discussion

This Commentary presents three cases from paediatric HIV services in Zimbabwe that highlight the complexities facing health care providers in providing HIV testing and care to children, and discusses the implications as a child's rights issue requiring both legal and programmatic responses. The cases provide examples of how disagreements between family members about appropriate care, conflicts between a child and caregiver and religious objections to medical treatment interrupt children's engagement with HIV services. In all three cases, no social or legal mechanisms were in place for health staff to intervene and prevent “loss to follow up.”

Conclusions

We suggest that conceptualizing this as a child's rights issue may be a useful way to raise the debate and move towards improved treatment access. Our cases reflect policy failure to facilitate access to children's HIV testing and treatment, and are likely to be similar across international settings. We propose sharing experiences and encouraging dialogue between health practitioners and global advocates for children's right to health to raise awareness that children are the bearers of rights even if they lack legal capacity, and that the failure of either the state or their caregiver to facilitate access to care is in fact a rights violation.

'Everyone has a secret they keep close to their hearts': challenges faced by adolescents living with HIV infection at the Kenyan coast

Background

The upsurge in the uptake of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has led to a significant increase in the survival of vertically acquired HIV infected children, many of whom are currently living into adolescence and early adulthood. However little if anything is known of the lived experiences and the challenges faced by HIV positive adolescents in the African context. We set out to investigate psychosocial challenges faced by HIV infected adolescents on the Kenyan coast.

Methods

A total of 44 participants (12 HIV-infected adolescents, 7 HIV uninfected adolescents, and 25 key informants) took part in this qualitative study, using individually administered in-depth interviews. A framework approach was used to analyze the data using NVIVO software.

Results

We observed that the challenges faced by adolescents in rural Kenya could be placed into six major themes: poverty, poor mental and physical health, the lack of a school system that is responsive to their needs, challenges in how to disclose to peers and family members, high levels of stigma in its various forms, and challenges of medical adherence leading to the need for close monitoring.

Conclusion

In this African community, vertically acquired HIV-infected adolescents face a complex set of social, economic and medical challenges. Our study points to the urgent need to develop multisectorial intervention support programmes to fully address these challenges.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2854-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

'Too much for one day': a case study of disclosure in the paediatric HIV/AIDS clinic

BACKGROUND

Despite acknowledgement of the complexity and challenges of the process of disclosure of HIV status to adolescents, little work has been carried out on the communication features which facilitate or hinder the process. This qualitative case study reflects the interactional dynamics of an interaction between caregiver, physician and counsellor around the topic of disclosure in a South African clinic.

METHODS

A 40-minute encounter between a doctor, the grandmother of an adolescent with HIV/AIDS and a counsellor around the process of disclosure was transcribed and examined in detail in relation to its structure, topics, timing and sequence as well as its movement towards a collaborative ending. Analysis was based on elements of conversational and thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The session was characterized by distinct stages and the emergence of multiple voices and perspectives from the participants. The negotiated management of the session sheds light on multiple barriers to care as well as the influence of contextual factors on the process. The important mediating role of the counsellor in the triad emerges. The analysis highlights both unique features of the consultation and common challenges to clinicians when disclosing.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The task of disclosure is complex and intricate. Results suggest team processes are critical, as are temporal and contextual factors and the need for an understanding of communication. Implications for the clinic team are discussed and suggestions made for the development of collaborative partnership based on an understanding of roles and responsibilities, time factors and enhancement of features such as trust and communication.

HIV Disclosure: Parental dilemma in informing HIV infected Children about their HIV Status in Malawi

BACKGROUND

Increasingly many perinatally HIV-infected children are surviving through adolescence and adulthood as a result of improvements in the management of paediatric HIV infection, particularly the increased use of combination therapy. It is usually the parents or guardians of these children who are faced with the task of informing the child living with HIV about his or her positive status. However, many parents-particularly biological parents -find this disclosure process difficult to initiate, and this study explored some of the difficulties that these parents encounter.

OBJECTIVE

This study set out to explore potential factors that challenge parents and guardians when informing their perinatally HIV-infected child about the child's HIV status.

DESIGN

This was a qualitative narrative study that employed in-depth interviews with parents or guardians of children perinatally infected with HIV. A total of 20 parents and guardians of children who attend the outpatient HIV clinic at the Baylor College of Medicine-Abbott Fund Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence (COE) in Lilongwe, Malawi were interviewed. Of these, 14 were biological parents and six were guardians.

RESULTS

Guardians and parents expressed uneasiness and apprehension with the disclosure conversation, whether or not they had already told their child that he or she had HIV. Participants who had not told their children recounted that they had contemplated starting the conversation but could not gather enough courage to follow through with those thoughts. They cited the fear of robbing their child of the happiness of living without the knowledge of being positive, fear of making their own status known to more people, and fear of confrontation or creating enmity with their child as impediments to disclosing their child's positive HIV status to him or her.

CONCLUSIONS

It is apparent that guardians-more particularly biological parents-of children perinatally infected by HIV find it difficult to inform their children about their children's HIV status. From this disempowered position, parents dread the disclosure of a positive HIV status to a child as a psychosocial process that has the potential to disturb a family's previously established equilibrium with threats of stigmatization, marginalization, and parent-child conflict. This calls for strategies that could support parents to make disclosure to the child less challenging.