HIV Care Profiling and Delivery Status in the Mobile Health Clinics of eThekwini District in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa: A Descriptive Evaluation Study

Abstract

Mobile health clinics (MHCs) serve as an alternative HIV care delivery method for the HIV-burdened eThekwini district. This study aimed to describe and profile the HIV care services provided by the MHCs through process evaluation. A descriptive cross-sectional quantitative evaluation study was performed on 137 MHCs using total population sampling. An online data collection method using a validated 50-item researcher-developed instrument was administered to professional nurses who are MHC team leaders, following ethical approval from the local university and departments of health. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The results described that HIV care services are offered in open spaces (43%), community buildings (37%), solid built buildings called health posts (15%), vehicles (9%), and tents (2%) with no electricity (77%), water (55%), and sanitation (64%). Adults (97%) are the main recipients of HIV care in MHCs (90%) offering antiretroviral therapy (95%). Staff, monitoring, and retaining care challenges were noted, with good linkage (91%) and referral pathways (n = 123.90%). In conclusion, the standardization and prioritization of HIV care with specific contextual practice guidelines are vital.

Registered nurses’ experiences regarding operational factors influencing the implementation of HIV care services in the mobile health clinics of eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal

“…MHCs are a community-based intervention that functions specifically as a delivery model for various medical services, including primary care and screening, preventative specialty care, and social interventions [ 1 , 2 ]. Registered nurses in the South African public health system are the main drivers that operate the MHCs [ 3 ], which are also used as an additional healthcare delivery approach aimed at HIV program expansion, without misplacing their initial inception purpose of serving general populations with healthcare access challenges [ 4 ]. Instead MHCs have been officially acknowledged and accepted as primary health care (PHC) service extension for remote areas within the local district health system [ 2 ] offering various healthcare services including HIV care, which is the focus of this study.…”