Impact of Community Support Workers in Rural Ethiopia on Emotional and Psychosocial Health of Persons Living with HIV: Results of a Three-Year Randomized Community Trial

Alan R. Lifson; Abera Hailemichael; Sale Workneh; Richard F. MacLehose; Keith J Horvath; Rose Hilk; Anne Sites; Tibebe Shenie

doi:10.1007/s10461-023-04007-1

Impact of Community Support Workers in Rural Ethiopia on Emotional and Psychosocial Health of Persons Living with HIV: Results of a Three-Year Randomized Community Trial

Alan R. Lifson, Abera Hailemichael, Sale Workneh, Richard F. MacLehose, Keith J Horvath, Rose Hilk, Anne Sites, Tibebe Shenie

Epidemiology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

People living with HIV face multiple psychosocial challenges. In a large, predominantly rural Ethiopian region, 1799 HIV patients new to care were enrolled from 32 sites in a cluster randomized trial using trained community support workers with HIV to provide individual health education, counseling and social support. Participants received annual surveys through 36 months using items drawn from the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-10, Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey, and HIV/AIDS Stigma Instrument-PLWA. At 12 months (using linear mixed effects regression models controlling for enrollment site clustering), intervention participants had greater emotional/informational and tangible assistance social support scores, and lower scores assessing depression symptoms and negative self-perception due to HIV status. A significant treatment effect at 36 months was also seen on scores assessing emotional/informational social support, depression symptoms, and internalized stigma. An intervention using peer community support workers with HIV to provide individualized informational and psychological support had a positive impact on the emotional health of people living with HIV who were new to care. (ClinicalTrials.gov protocol ID: 1410S54203, May 19, 2015).

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2834-2843
Number of pages	10
Journal	AIDS and Behavior
Volume	27
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-023-04007-1
State	Published - Sep 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Ethiopian study coordinators were Anteneh Mengistu, Behailu Dagne, Engidaw Ayele, Hiwot Tekle, Simret Girma, Signe Tefera, Tesfaye Gemechu, Tsedey Ayele, Tewabe Tamiru, and Yayush Tesfaye. We thank: Lindsey Fabian, Madelyn Tillemans and Lauren Berg from the University of Minnesota; Lucy Slater from the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors; and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region Regional Health Bureau. Additional details on the study protocol are available from Dr. Lifson. We especially thank all people living with HIV for their generous participation in this study.

Funding Information:
Funding was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Grant: 5R01MH105290.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

Community support workers
Depression
HIV
Internalized stigma
Social support

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Journal Article

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Lifson, A. R., Hailemichael, A., Workneh, S., MacLehose, R. F., Horvath, K. J., Hilk, R., Sites, A., & Shenie, T. (2023). Impact of Community Support Workers in Rural Ethiopia on Emotional and Psychosocial Health of Persons Living with HIV: Results of a Three-Year Randomized Community Trial. AIDS and Behavior, 27(9), 2834-2843. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-023-04007-1

Lifson, AR, Hailemichael, A, Workneh, S, MacLehose, RF, Horvath, KJ, Hilk, R, Sites, A & Shenie, T 2023, 'Impact of Community Support Workers in Rural Ethiopia on Emotional and Psychosocial Health of Persons Living with HIV: Results of a Three-Year Randomized Community Trial', AIDS and Behavior, vol. 27, no. 9, pp. 2834-2843. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-023-04007-1

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Impact of Community Support Workers in Rural Ethiopia on Emotional and Psychosocial Health of Persons Living with HIV: Results of a Three-Year Randomized Community Trial

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

PubMed: MeSH publication types

UN SDGs

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