Standing Tall (Yima Nkqo)

The premise for our study is based on three decades of HIV research that supports the need for multi-component, multisystem interventions to promote testing, and adherence to treatment and care for young people living with HIV. The proposed intervention, Standing Tall, is informed and guided by Social Action Theory - a conceptual framework reflecting a holistic understanding of health behavior and motivational factors that foster and maintain behavior change. Standing Tall, a pilot randomized controlled trial, is designed to address multi-factorial barriers using (1) a socio-behavioral group intervention; (2) social support; (3) provision of immediate ART and refills. The primary outcome is ART initiation at three months, and the secondary outcome is viral load suppression at six months. Other tertiary/exploratory outcomes include behavioral outcomes and process evaluation of the intervention itself, and the use of point-of-care diagnostics. The administrative supplemental funding provides support for an additional objective of this study: to understand how best to use point-of-care (POC) testing in clinical practice in order to improve HIV care and treatment for South African young people. Understanding patient perspectives and perceived barriers is critical to developing feasible, acceptable, and effective protocols for implementing POC testing. The primary aim for achieving this objective is to assess patient perspectives regarding POC testing through in-depth, semi-structured interviews among study participants enrolled in Standing Tall's second aim.