Research in Southern Africa presented at #AIDS 2016 in Durban showed that streamlining care and supporting adherence can increase rates of Retention in Care.
Measures to reduce the burden of seeking health care are critical to improving the capacity of health systems to manage growing numbers of patients, numerous presenters at the conference confirmed. The new wave of interventions – described as ‘differentiated care’ in guidelines – are intended to reduce clinic visits, waiting times and monitoring requirements.
One study showed that switching people who were clinically stable to have follow-up every six months (instead of monthly or quarterly) not only maintained attendance at appointments but also saved over 30,000 consultations in one district of Malawi in 2014 alone. Only 3% of people who opted to switch to six-monthly appointments were lost to follow-up compared to 35% of other patients.
