Increasing pediatric HIV disclosure to children in Uganda

As pediatric HIV care programs expand to provide treatment services, there is an urgent need for effective, culturally appropriate, and scalable disclosure interventions that: 1) improve caretaker’s ability to communicate with their child about chronic illness, HIV, and adherence to antiretroviral treatment; and 2) promote sustained, positive mental health, behavioral, and clinical outcomes of HIV-positive children who know their HIV status.

This brief highlights findings from a 6-month follow up of DISCO-Kids (Dialogue Intervention to Support Communication and Openness), a caretaker and child-focused cognitive-behavioral intervention that is culturally appropriate and potentially feasible to scale up within the context of HIV care and treatment clinical programs in sub-Saharan Africa.