"It's all about asking from those who have walked the path": Patient and stakeholder perspectives on how peers may shift substance use stigma in HIV care in South Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

South Africa has the highest number of people with HIV (PWH) globally and a significant burden of co-occurring substance use disorder (SUD). Health care worker (HCW) stigma towards SUD is a key barrier to HIV care engagement among PWH with SUD. Support from peers-individuals with lived experience of SUD-may be a promising solution for addressing SUD stigma, while also improving engagement in HIV care. We evaluated the perceived acceptability of integrating a peer role into community-based HIV care teams as a strategy to address SUD stigma at multiple levels and improve patient engagement in HIV care.

Methods

Patients and stakeholders (N = 40) were recruited from publicly-funded HIV and SUD organizations in Cape Town, South Africa. We conducted a quantitative asses

SUBMITTER: Magidson JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9490994 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature