Improving HIV treatment outcomes goes beyond medication. It also requires effective, person-centred counselling that promotes treatment adherence and sustained engagement in care.

At a recent research meeting held at the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) headquarters in Lusaka, Ms Chipango Kabanda presented preliminary findings from a study examining the quality of counselling in routine HIV care settings across Lusaka and Central Provinces.

The findings from the ENACT component of the Person-Centred Care Approaches to Address Viraemia: Connection, Rapport and Engagement (P-CoRE) study, analysed 50 audio-recorded counselling sessions.

The findings revealed that healthcare providers generally communicated respectfully and offered practical support to help clients adhere to treatment.

However, the study further outlined that there is still room to strengthen trust and rapport, listen more attentively to clients’ concerns, involve them in care planning, and adopt communication approaches that make adolescents feel comfortable, heard and understood.

These findings highlight the importance of strengthening person-centred counselling to improve the quality of HIV care and support better treatment outcomes.