Developing and testing a community-based nursing intervention to improve engagement of HIV Patients in care and treatment (Conect) (Abstract only)

The health outcomes now achievable for people living with HIV require long-term engagement with treatment and care. This is problematic for a significant minority. Disengagement from HIV services is strongly associated with poor health outcomes and reduced life expectancy. It accounts for a large proportion of avoidable hospital admissions and has considerable public health implications associated with onward transmission. Preventing disengagement is a major challenge for HIV services. Those who disengage from care commonly have complex needs and a range of psychosocial problems. This indicates the need for reengagement interventions that take an individualised approach. The aim of this project is to develop and test a community-delivered nursing intervention designed to prevent individuals disengaging from HIV treatment and care. The project involves development of a reengagement intervention and delivery of the intervention through a pilot community HIV nursing service. The intervention is structured around a strengths-based approach and theoretically based on the Behaviour Change Wheel. A process and outcome evaluation will establish effectiveness and acceptability of the intervention. A structured and theoretically informed intervention has the potential to make a significant contribution to reducing disengagement rates in this population. Establishing a pilot service to deliver this intervention and conducting a comprehensive evaluation will enable us to assess its effectiveness and identify the key determinants of success to inform transferability of this approach.