The Pathways Project (v.1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Pathways Project: A Qualitative Longitudinal Study of the Cascades of HIV Care
IRAS ID
182360
Contact name
Pippa Grenfell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 11 days
Research summary
The ‘Cascade of Care’ is a new way of representing access to and engagement in HIV care and treatment, indicating the proportion of people estimated to be living with HIV who are diagnosed, linked to HIV care, remain in care, receive anti-retroviral treatment (ART), and have an undetectable viral load. This model is potentially very useful in informing public health responses to HIV. However, we know little about the social and systemic factors that affect the care cascade in the UK, and how well the model actually reflects individual HIV care and treatment experiences.
This is the first qualitative longitudinal study in the UK to research the ‘Cascade of Care’ from the perspectives of people living with HIV. We will conduct in-depth interviews with people living with HIV (and with Hepatitis C virus co-infection), with and without experience of ART, up to three times over two years, to find out about their experiences of HIV care and treatment, the contextual factors that have affected their experiences, and how these have changed over time. We aim to interview people living with HIV who are vulnerable to disengagement from care or treatment, including people who, despite these vulnerabilities, fully engage in or adhere to care/treatment. Before starting interviews, we will conduct informal consultations with HIV patient, community, provider and academic experts, to inform our sampling criteria, recruitment methods and interview topic guides.
We will use the findings to make recommendations for interventions to improve the care cascade for people living with HIV in the UK. This study is part of a wider research programme to identify, understand and manage factors that influence the uptake of healthcare interventions, continuity in care and outcomes in people living with HIV, HBV and HCV, within an NIHR-funded Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU).REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1618
Date of REC Opinion
23 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion