Acceptability of Interventions to Improve Engagement in HIV Care Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women at Two Urban Clinics in South Africa

IntroductionPregnant women initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa have been shown to have sub-optimal engagement in care, particularly after delivery, and interventions to improve engagement in care for this unique population are urgently needed.MethodsWe enrolled 25 pregnant women living with HIV at each of two large antenatal clinics in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (n=50), and conducted in-depth interviews. We assessed participants' reported acceptability of the following proposed interventions to improve engagement in care and retention monitoring data systems: financial incentives, educational toys, health education, combined maternal/infant visits, cell phone text reminders, mobility tracking, fingerprint/biometric devices, and smartcards.ResultsAcceptability overall for interventions was high, with mixed responses for some interventions. Overall themes identified included (i) the intersection of individual and facility responsibility for a patient's health, (ii) a call for more health education, (iii) issues of disclosure and concerns about privacy, and (iv) openness to interventions that could improve health systems.DiscussionThese findings provide insight into the preferences and concerns of potential users of interventions to improve engagement in HIV care for pregnant women, and support the development of tools that specifically target this high-risk group.