Developing and Testing a Chatbot to Integrate HIV Education Into Family Planning Clinic Waiting Areas in Lusaka, Zambia.

Background: To maximize protection against both unintended pregnancy and HIV, it is important that family planning (FP) services integrate HIV counseling, both to support method choice and identify potential HIV services of interest, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). However, FP providers often lack sufficient time and knowledge to address HIV vulnerability with clients. To potentially offload some of the initial HIV counseling burden from FP providers, we developed and tested a chatbot that provided information about HIV and dual protection to FP clients in waiting areas of FP clinics in Lusaka, Zambia.

Effects of men's lifetime adverse events experience on violence, HIV risk, and wellbeing: insights from three countries.

Objective: To assess men's experiences of adverse events in both child and adulthood and their effects on violence, HIV risk, and well being in three sub-Saharan countries.

Design: We conducted cross-sectional surveys from 2017 to 2018 with men (all 18+) recruited via the PLACE methodology at community hotspots and HIV service sites in Eswatini (n = 1091), South Africa (n = 932), and Malawi (n = 611).

Methods: Prevalence of men's adverse events in childhood (e.

Introduction of digital reporting platform to integrate community-level data into health information systems is feasible and acceptable among various community health stakeholders: A mixed-methods pilot study in Mopti, Mali.

Background: Integration of community-level health data within Mali's web-based District Health Information System (DHIS2) is underexplored. This study conducted in Mopti, Mali examined challenges and enablers affecting integration and investigated how digital technology optimizes data quality, availability, and use.

Methods: This pre-post mixed-methods study compared community health workers' (CHWs') experiences reporting routine community-level data using the DHIS2 digital application on tablets and paper forms.

The Client Empowerment in Community Health Systems Scale: Development and validation in three countries.

Background: Effectively measuring client empowerment is critical for monitoring and supporting empowerment through interventions, including via community health workers (CHWs) on the front line. Yet a comprehensive measure capturing the multidimensional aspects of client empowerment is not currently available. We aimed to develop and validate the Client Empowerment in Community Health Systems (CE-CHS) Scale in three countries.

Measuring client trust in community health workers: A multi-country validation study.

Background: Client trust in community health workers (CHWs) is integral for improving quality and equity of community health systems globally. Despite its recognized conceptual and pragmatic importance across health areas, there are no quantitative measures of trust in the context of community health services. In this multi-country study, we aimed to develop and validate a scale that assesses trust in CHWs.

Development and validation of a multi-dimensional scale to assess community health worker motivation.

Background: Ensuring that Community Health Workers (CHWs) are motivated is critical to their performance, retention and well-being - and ultimately to the effectiveness of community health systems worldwide. While CHW motivation is as multi-dimensional construct, there is no multi-dimensional measure available to guide programming. In this study, we developed and validated a pragmatic, multi-dimensional measure of CHW motivation.

Stigma among key populations living with HIV in the Dominican Republic: experiences of people of Haitian descent, MSM, and female sex workers.

Objective(s): To describe stigma among seropositive MSM, female sex workers (FSWs), and Haitian-descent individuals in the Dominican Republic, and to assess whether stigma is associated with HIV treatment outcomes.

Design: Cross-sectional survey using Stigma Index 2.0.

Internalized stigma among people living with HIV: assessing the Internalized AIDS-Related Stigma Scale in four countries.

Objective: Measuring internalized stigma is critical to understanding its impact on the health and quality of life of people living with HIV (PLHIV). The aim of this study was to assess the performance of the Internalized AIDS-Related Stigma Scale (IA-RSS).

Design: Secondary analysis of the six-item IA-RSS was conducted using data from four cross-sectional surveys implemented in Cambodia (n = 1207), the Dominican Republic (n = 891), Uganda (n = 391) and Tanzania (n = 529) between 2018 and 2019.

What shapes resilience among people living with HIV? A multi-country analysis of data from the PLHIV Stigma Index 2.0.

Objective: To inform efforts to promote greater resilience among people living with HIV (PLHIV), we examined associations between resilience and factors at the individual, interpersonal and structural/policy levels in three countries.

Design: Data come from the PLHIV Stigma Index 2.0, a cross-sectional survey with PLHIV, implemented from 2017 to 2019 in Cambodia (n = 1207), the Dominican Republic (n = 891), and Uganda (n = 391).

The People Living with HIV Stigma Index 2.0: generating critical evidence for change worldwide.

Objective(s): To describe the process of updating the People Living with HIV (PLHIV) Stigma Index (Stigma Index) to reflect current global treatment guidelines and to better measure intersecting stigmas and resilience.

Design: Through an iterative process driven by PLHIV, the Stigma Index was revised, pretested, and formally evaluated in three cross-sectional studies.

Methods: Between March and October 2017, 1153 surveys (n = 377, Cameroon; n = 390, Senegal; n = 391, Uganda) were conducted with PLHIV at least 18 years old who had known their status for at least 1 year.

Expanding the agenda for addressing mistreatment in maternity care: a mapping review and gender analysis.

Background: This paper responds to the global call to action for respectful maternity care (RMC) by examining whether and how gender inequalities and unequal power dynamics in the health system undermine quality of care or obstruct women's capacities to exercise their rights as both users and providers of maternity care.

Methods: We conducted a mapping review of peer-reviewed and gray literature to examine whether gender inequality is a determinant of mistreatment during childbirth. A search for peer-reviewed articles published between January 1995 and September 2017 in PubMed, Embase, SCOPUS, and Web of Science databases, supplemented by an appeal to experts in the field, yielded 127 unique articles.

Paying for Sex by Young Men Who Live on the Streets in Dhaka City: Compounded Sexual Risk in a Vulnerable Migrant Community.

Purpose: Dhaka City is home to thousands of migrants from Bangladesh's rural areas who often live in the streets. Prior studies examine street youth's practice of selling sex as a survival mechanism. We assess their less-studied practice of paying for sex and its association with sexual risk behaviors and outcomes.