Presenter(s): Arden Saravis—International Studies
Faculty Mentor(s): Clare Evans
Session 1: Time for Your Check-Up—Decolonizing Global Health
Failure to adhere to antiretroviral therapy (ART) persists in exponentially large numbers in the adolescent population in Western Kenya . The presence of stigma surrounding HIV heavily contributes to this immense prevalence in society . Adolescents living with HIV fear premature disclosure to
their peers, so many choose to not bring their ARTs in public and even hide them in their homes . We assessed perceptions of the ART pill bottle/pill to see if this contributes to non-adherence and discussed ideas on changing the bottle or developing a new, discrete pill casing . We conducted nine key informant interviews among professionals who work with adolescents and young adults living with HIV and conducted four focus group discussions with 42 adolescents living with HIV at a hospital in Western Kenya . We found that currently, because of the pill bottle, many adolescents and young adults remove their pills and place them in other items, reducing pill potency, however the results include proposed ideas and designs for an alternative pill bottle that they will use and confirmed that their adherence would increase if these such items were implemented .