Getting to zero HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa: Understanding perceptions of locals using the social determinants of health framework

Lyndsey D McMahan; Margaret Lombe; Caroline B R Evans; Ngozi Victoria Enelamah; Yoosun Chu; Stewart Simms; Jennifer Verkamp-Ruthven; Javier Reyes Martinez; Odericky Mweemba; Lubenji LaForest; Deborah J Weiss; Laura Wideman

doi:10.1111/hsc.13444

Getting to zero HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa: Understanding perceptions of locals using the social determinants of health framework

Health Soc Care Community. 2022 May;30(3):e739-e748. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13444. Epub 2021 May 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Social Work, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA.
² Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security & Global Governance, McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA.
³ School of Social Work, Rhode Island College, Providence, RI, USA.
⁴ Department of Social Welfare, Keimyung University, Daegu, South Korea.
⁵ Jewish Vocational Services, Boston, MA, USA.
⁶ Catholic Charities of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR, USA.
⁷ Jesuit Community, Chikuni Mission, Zambia.
⁸ Children's Services of Roxbury, Boston, MA, USA.
⁹ University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.

PMID: 34028915
DOI: 10.1111/hsc.13444

Abstract

This study explored a community perception of the facilitators and inhibitors of Getting to Zero (GTZ) in rural Zambia, sub-Saharan Africa. Data were collected in 2017. We use the Social Determinants of Health framework to guide organisation of key themes emerging from semistructured, focus group interviews with community members (N = 52). Data were analysed through an iterative descriptive/thematic approach which allowed for the highlighting of key themes. Emerging themes point to the significance of (a) individual, (b) sociocultural, (c) environmental and (d) economic factors, for example, treatment adherence, gender norms, food security and access to health care as important in GTZ. Implications for policy, practise and scholarship are suggested.

Keywords: AIDS; HIV; community agency; getting to zero; social determinants of health; sub-Saharan Africa.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome*
Africa South of the Sahara
Focus Groups
HIV Infections* / drug therapy
HIV Infections* / prevention & control
Humans
Rural Population
Social Determinants of Health