Effect of a multicomponent, person-centred care intervention on client experience and HIV treatment outcomes in Zambia: a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomised trial.

Background: Recipients of health services value not only convenience but also respectful, kind, and helpful providers. To date, research to improve person-centred HIV treatment has focused on making services easier to access (eg, differentiated service delivery) rather than the interpersonal experience of care. We developed and evaluated a person-centred care (PCC) intervention targeting practices of health-care workers.

Assessing the Response Results of an mHealth-Based Patient Experience Survey Among People Receiving HIV Care in Lusaka, Zambia: Cohort Study.

Background: This pilot study evaluates the effectiveness of mobile talk-time incentives in maintaining participation in a longitudinal mobile health (mHealth) data collection program among people living with HIV in Lusaka, Zambia. While mHealth tools, such as mobile phone surveys, provide vital health feedback, optimal incentive strategies to ensure long-term engagement remain limited. This study explores how different incentive levels affect response rates in multiple survey rounds, providing insights into effective methods for encouraging ongoing participation, especially in the context of Zambia's prepaid mobile system and multi-SIM usage, a common practice in sub-Saharan Africa.

Comparison of patient exit interviews with unannounced standardised patients for assessing HIV service delivery in Zambia: a study nested within a cluster randomised trial.

Objectives: To compare unannounced standardised patient approach (eg, mystery clients) with typical exit interviews for assessing patient experiences in HIV care (eg, unfriendly providers, long waiting times). We hypothesise standardised patients would report more negative experiences than typical exit interviews affected by social desirability bias.

Setting: Cross-sectional surveys in 16 government-operated HIV primary care clinics in Lusaka, Zambia providing antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Correction: Evaluation of kidney function among people living with HIV initiating antiretroviral therapy in Zambia.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.

Cross-sectional study to assess depression among healthcare workers in Lusaka, Zambia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: We sought to assess depression among healthcare workers (HCWs) in the context of COVID-19 in Lusaka Province, Zambia.

Design: This cross-sectional study is nested within a larger study, the Person-Centred Public Health for HIV Treatment in Zambia (PCPH), a cluster-randomised trial to assess HIV care and outcomes.

Setting: The research was conducted in 24 government-run health facilities from 11 August to 15 October 2020 during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lusaka, Zambia.

Evaluation of kidney function among people living with HIV initiating antiretroviral therapy in Zambia.

As the response to the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa continues to mature, a growing number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) are aging and risk for non-communicable diseases increases. Routine laboratory tests of serum creatinine have been conducted to assess HIV treatment (ART) suitability. Here we utilize those measures to assess kidney function impairment among those initiating ART.

Mitigating the effects of COVID-19 on HIV treatment and care in Lusaka, Zambia: a before-after cohort study using mixed effects regression.

Introduction: The Zambian Ministry of Health (MoH) issued COVID-19 mitigation guidance for HIV care immediately after the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Zambia on 18 March 2020. The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia implemented MoH guidance by: 1) extending antiretroviral therapy (ART) refill duration to 6 multi-month dispensation (6MMD) and 2) task-shifting communication and mobilisation of those in HIV care to collect their next ART refill early. We assessed the impact of COVID-19 mitigation guidance on HIV care 3 months before and after guidance implementation.

Active TB case finding in a high burden setting; comparison of community and facility-based strategies in Lusaka, Zambia.

Introduction: We conducted an implementation science study to increase TB case detection through a combination of interventions at health facility and community levels. We determined the impact of the study in terms of additional cases detected and notification rate and compared the yield of bacteriologically confirmed TB of facility based and community based case finding.

Methodology: Over a period of 18 months, similar case finding activities were conducted at George health facility in Lusaka Zambia and its catchment community, an informal peri-urban settlement.

Patient-reported reasons for declining same-day antiretroviral therapy initiation in routine HIV care settings in Lusaka, Zambia: results from a mixed-effects regression analysis.

Introduction: In the current "test and treat" era, HIV programmes are increasingly focusing resources on linkage to care and same-day antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation to meet UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. After observing sub-optimal treatment indicators in health facilities supported by the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), we piloted a "linkage assessment" tool in facility-based HIV testing settings to uncover barriers to same-day linkage to care and ART initiation among newly identified people living with HIV (PLHIV) and to guide HIV programme quality improvement efforts.

Methods: The one-page, structured linkage assessment tool was developed to capture patient-reported barriers to same-day linkage and ART initiation using three empirically supported categories of barriers: social, personal and structural.

Redefining and revisiting cost estimates of routine ART care in Zambia: an analysis of ten clinics.

Introduction: Accurate costing is key for programme planning and policy implementation. Since 2011, there have been major changes in eligibility criteria and treatment regimens with price reductions in ART drugs, programmatic changes resulting in clinical task-shifting and decentralization of ART delivery to peripheral health centres making existing evidence on ART care costs in Zambia out-of-date. As decision makers consider further changes in ART service delivery, it is important to understand the current drivers of costs for ART care.