Integrating HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Impairment Screening within Primary Healthcare Facilities: A Pilot Training Intervention

• Main Authors: Adele Munsami (Author), Goodman Sibeko (Author), Hetta Gouse (Author), Sam Nightingale (Author), John A. Joska (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Hindawi Limited, 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2090-1437; 10.1155/2022/4495586
• Keywords: Nursing; RT1-120
• Source: Nursing Research and Practice, Vol 2022 (2022)

HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment (H-NCI) remains a common comorbidity, which may affect several key health outcomes among people with HIV. However, there are shortages of appropriately skilled healthcare workers able to identify and manage H-NCI in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted an exploratory, quasi-experimental, pre- and post-cohort training intervention in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Thirty-four healthcare workers (two general medical doctors, twenty-two nurses, and ten adherence counsellors) from six facilities and a mobile clinic unit attended two, two-hour face-to-face, training sessions. The training included knowledge and skill transfer components. Pre- and post-knowledge questionaries demonstrated an improvement among 82% (n = 28) of the attendees from all three cadres. Knowledge was retained by 88% (n = 30) of the attendees after eight weeks. The H-NCI screening tools were administered with 78% accuracy. After eight weeks, two general medical doctors and eight senior nurses were able to accurately administer the tool. The Primary Healthcare H-NCI training was successful in improving knowledge among primary healthcare workers; however, several healthcare workers experienced challenges with administering such tools.