Leveraging peer-based support to facilitate HIV care in Kenya

Rakhi Karwa; Mercy Maina; Timothy Mercer; Benson Njuguna; Juddy Wachira; Celia Ngetich; Fatma Some; Beatrice Jakait; Regina K Owino; Adrian Gardner; Sonak Pastakia

doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002355

Leveraging peer-based support to facilitate HIV care in Kenya

PLoS Med. 2017 Jul 14;14(7):e1002355. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002355. eCollection 2017 Jul.

Authors

Rakhi Karwa^{1

2

3}, Mercy Maina^{3

4}, Timothy Mercer^{2

3

5}, Benson Njuguna⁴, Juddy Wachira^{2

3}, Celia Ngetich^{3

4}, Fatma Some^{2

3}, Beatrice Jakait^{3

4}, Regina K Owino^{3

4}, Adrian Gardner^{2

3

5}, Sonak Pastakia^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ College of Pharmacy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America.
² College of Health Sciences, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.
³ Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare, Eldoret, Kenya.
⁴ Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya.
⁵ Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America.

Abstract

Rakhi Karwa and colleagues discuss a program in which peer navigators support care for people with HIV at a Kenyan hospital.

MeSH terms

HIV Infections / prevention & control*
HIV Infections / psychology
HIV Infections / therapy*
Health Services Accessibility* / trends
Humans
Kenia
Peer Group*
Social Support*

Grants and funding

The AMPATH HIV Peer Navigator Program received financial support through an unrestricted grant from Celgene. This program has been supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through USAID under the terms of Cooperative Agreement No. AID-623-A-12-0001. It is made possible through the joint support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.