The National Department of Health (NDH) has collaborated with healthcare firms, the Foundation for Professional Development and Aviro Health to launch HIV Engage, a digital counselling Web app for adults.
The HIV Engage platform hosts video content on HIV counselling and testing, accessible on desktop and also mobile responsive. The videos which can be downloaded for offline use cover the continuum of care from HIV testing through to antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, including broader issues of stigma and disclosure.
The videos, presented in four South African official languages: English, IsiZulu, SeSotho and IsiXhosa, cover various topics, including:
- The importance of getting tested for HIV.
- Understanding the basics of HIV: how it affects the body and how it is transmitted.
- Understanding pre-exposure prophylaxis and how to prevent getting infected (for negative HIV test results).
- The importance of early treatment initiation and the basics of ARV (for positive HIV test results).
- The realities of living with HIV, in Q&A format.
- The ART initiation content in the case of a positive HIV test result. This includes introductory videos to treatment adherence and maintaining good health.
As part of the developmental process for the content, the NDH, together with health experts, counsellors and end-users, says it held public user-design workshopsto gain a better understanding of the current HIV counselling landscape in SA.
“There has been a long-term need to rethink and innovate HIV counselling to make it more relevant to today’s health client,” says Musaed Abrahams, Aviro Health CEO and HIV Engage project lead.
“By using an empathetic approach, we used the real-world experiences of HIV patients and the needs of healthcare workers to create patient-centred messaging to understand HIV, the treatment of HIV and living with HIV. We are also challenged during this time to be innovative in supporting the health system, and counselling models are a crucial part of this.”
The NDH, the Foundation for Professional Development and Aviro Health, along with other partners, spent over a year developing HIV Engage and say they will continue to learn through user feedback to grow the platform.
Digital health tools are coming to the fore as part of the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, with the National Department of Health innovating to extend and strengthen health services and improve access
to information through the adoption of the NDH COVID-19 national social media support channels and an array of digital tools.
Although lockdown regulations implemented
in response to COVID-19 have contributed to flattening the infection curve nationally, it has also resulted in decreased attendance in health facilities for conditions such as HIV and TB, with decreases seen in HIV and TB testing, notes the NDH.
“The demand for testing services has decreased to 10 people a day, from 40-50 people a day. Medication adherence is also being affected, with almost 11 000 HIV and over 1 000 TB patients not collecting their medicine during the lockdown,” according to the provincial health department in Gauteng.
