HIV Testing and Counseling Clinical Trial
Official title:
Community-based Delivery of Integrated Family Planning/HIV Testing and Counseling Services in Uganda
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of adding HIV testing and counseling (HTC) services to the family planning (FP) services provided by community health workers in Uganda.
The Uganda Ministry of Health is implementing a Village Health Team strategy whereby lay
volunteers, called VHTs, provide a government-endorsed platform for all community-based
health programming. Where trained, VHTs already offered family planning services, including
injectable contraceptives. In this project, VHTs already providing family planning services
are trained to offer HIV testing and counseling services (HTC). The goal is to reach
individuals whose sexual and reproductive health needs may be underserved by clinic-based
services, while also attempting to mitigate some of the barriers to HTC like access and
stigma.
The study uses a two-arm post-test only randomized cluster design, with eight pair-matched
health centers in two districts randomly assigned to intervention or control arm. VHTs
supported by health centers in the intervention arm receive classroom training and
supervised practical experience in HTC. Supervision and commodity supply occur through
health centers, building on support mechanisms for family planning. External quality
assurance is conducted quarterly through health centers as part of program implementation.
VHTs receive refresher training after 8 months. VHTs in the intervention arm provide both
family planning and HTC services during the study period, and then return to providing
family planning only at the end of the project. VHTs in the control arm only provide family
planning. HTC and/or family planning services, as applicable, are available to all adults in
the communities served by the VHTs.
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Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Health Services Research