Browsing by Author "Myburgh, Hanlie"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Households, fluidity, and HIV service delivery in Zambia and South Africa – an exploratory analysis of longitudinal qualitative data from the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial
    (Wiley Open Access, 2018) Hoddinott, Graeme; Myburgh, Hanlie; De Villiers, Laing; Ndubani, Rhoda; Mantantana, Jabulile; Thomas, Angelique; Mbewe, Madalitso; Ayles, Helen; Bock, Peter; Seeley, Janet; Shanaube, Kwame; Hargreaves, James; Bond, Virginia; Reynolds, Lindsey
    Introduction: Population distributions, family and household compositions, and people’s sense of belonging and social stability in southern Africa have been shaped by tumultuous, continuing large-scale historical disruptions. As a result, many people experience high levels of geographic and social fluidity, which intersect with individual and population-level migration patterns. We describe the complexities of household fluidity and HIV service access in South Africa and Zambia to explore implications for health systems and service delivery in contexts of high household fluidity. Methods: HPTN 071 (PopART) is a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial implemented in 21 peri-urban study communities in Zambia and South Africa between 2013 and 2018. A qualitative cohort nested in the trial included 148 purposively sampled households. Data collection was informed by ethnographic and participatory research principles. The analysis process was reflexive and findings are descriptive narrative summaries of emergent ideas. Results: Households in southern Africa are extremely fluid, with people having a tenuous sense of security in their social networks. This fluidity intersects with high individual and population mobility. To characterize fluidity, we describe thematic patterns of household membership and residence. We also identify reasons people give for moving around and shifting social ties, including economic survival, fostering interpersonal relationships, participating in cultural, traditional, religious, or familial gatherings, being institutionalized, and maintaining patterns of substance use. High fluidity disrupted HIV service access for some participants. Despite these challenges, many participants were able to regularly access HIV testing services and participants living with HIV were especially resourceful in maintaining continuity of antiretroviral therapy (ART). We identify three key features of health service interactions that facilitated care continuity: disclosure to family members, understanding attitudes among health services staff including flexibility to accommodate clients’ transient pressures, and participants’ agency in ARTrelated decisions. Conclusions: Choices made to manage one’s experiential sense of household fluidity are intentional responses to livelihood and social support constraints. To enhance retention in care for people living with HIV, policy makers and service providers should focus on creating responsive, flexible health service delivery systems designed to accommodate many shifts in client circumstances.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Opportunities for mobile app–based adherence support for children with tuberculosis in South Africa
    (JMIR Publications, 2020) Morse, Rachel M.; Myburgh, Hanlie; Reubi, David; Archey, Ava E.; Busakwe, Leletu; Garcia-Prats, Anthony J.; Hesseling, Anneke C.; Jacobs, Stephanie; Mbaba, Sharon; Meyerson, Kyla; Seddon, James A.; Van Der Zalm, Marieke M.; Wademan, Dillon T.; Hoddinott, Graeme
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Tuberculosis is the number one infectious cause of death globally. Young children, generally those younger than 5 years, are at the highest risk of progressing from tuberculosis infection to tuberculosis disease and of developing the most severe forms of tuberculosis. Most current tuberculosis drug formulations have poor acceptability among children and require consistent adherence for prolonged periods of time. These challenges complicate children’s adherence to treatment and caregivers’ daily administration of the drugs. Rapid developments in mobile technologies and apps present opportunities for using widely available technology to support national tuberculosis programs and patient treatment adherence. Pilot studies have demonstrated that mobile apps are a feasible and acceptable means of enhancing children’s treatment adherence for other chronic conditions. Despite this, no mobile apps that aim to promote adherence to tuberculosis treatment have been developed for children. In this paper, we draw on our experiences carrying out research in clinical pediatric tuberculosis studies in South Africa. We present hypothetical scenarios of children’s adherence to tuberculosis medication to suggest priorities for behavioral and educational strategies that a mobile app could incorporate to address some of the adherence support gaps faced by children diagnosed with tuberculosis. We argue that a mobile app has the potential to lessen some of the negative experiences that children associate with taking tuberculosis treatment and to facilitate a more positive treatment adherence experience for children and their caregivers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Treatment through empowerment? : exploring the dynamics of ‘responsibility’ in antiretroviral therapy (ART) in two clinics in the Cape Winelands
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-03) Myburgh, Hanlie; Robins, Steven L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates how the new technology of treatment, i.e. antiretroviral therapy (ART), is incorporated into public health care institutions. The success of this technology ideally relies on the notion of the ‘responsibilised’ patient as one who, simply put, consistently maintains the level of ARV-adherence necessary to suppress the viral load and to avoid drug resistance. The stringent management and continual monitoring of treatment adherence necessary to achieve these outcomes lie beyond the direct control of the health care institution. Given that the institution sees its patients irregularly, a patient’s divergence from treatment guidelines is established only after the fact. The institution takes on a supporting role while it is the patient who, on a day-to-day, dose-by-dose basis manages and monitors themselves, making ART a seemingly individual endeavour and responsibility. This shift in responsibility is compatible with the ‘new contract’ between provider and client, necessitated by ART. Even so, the institution attempts to manipulate the day-to-day behaviours of the patient to conform to those required in order to achieve treatment outcomes. This thesis examines how these different aspects of ART play out within two clinics in the Cape Winelands, and more specifically, the institutional intricacies of managing a disease which requires treatment that is not directly observed.