Impact of Male Provider Phone Calls to Increase Men's Clinic Linkage After HIVST

Kingasa Study: Interventions for Improved Post-partum ART Continuation and HIV Testing of Male Partners of Women in PMTCT B+ in Uganda

Evaluate the impact of phone calls from a male counselor in increasing linkage to HIV care and PrEP among male partners of pregnant women attending PMTCT.

Evaluate the impact of phone calls from a male counselor in increasing linkage to HIV care and PrEP among male partners of pregnant women attending PMTCT. Approach: Leveraging the staff and infrastructure of an ongoing study, Kingasa (R01MH113434), this study will evaluate the impact of phone calls from a male counselor to encourage male partners to link to HIV care or prevention services after HIV testing. The intervention will provide male counselor follow-up to 100 male partners of pregnant women in the intervention arm of the Kingasa study. Exit interviews will be conducted with men and their female partners to assess acceptability and challenges associated with the intervention. Outcomes assessed include ART initiation among HIV-positive men and PrEP by HIV-negative men at 6 months.

Hypothesis: The intervention of a phone call from a male counselor to provide counseling and encourage linkage to HIV care or prevention will be feasible and acceptable. It will result in a higher proportion of men linking to treatment and prevention compared to the standard of care arm of the Kingasa pilot study.

Inclusion Criteria for women:

Age ≥18 or 14-17 years if an emancipated minor (pregnant or have a child), Currently pregnant, Not currently enrolled in an HIV treatment study, Male partner not known to be HIV-positive or has not tested in the past 3 months, Able and willing to provide written informed consent, Able and willing to provide adequate locator information for study retention purposes, Screening negative for any indication of intimate partner violence or social harm

Inclusion Criteria for men:

Female partner enrolled in Kingasa pilot study.