Economic Empowerment and Mental Health Interventions for HIV-Affected Populations
Summary
Economic empowerment and mental health interventions for people affected by HIV increasingly adopt integrated approaches that address financial insecurity, psychosocial stressors and stigma alongside clinical care. Core strategies include youth savings accounts with matched incentives, financial literacy training, income-generating activities and vocational skills development to build household and individual assets. These are coupled with structured mental health components such as group cognitive behavioural therapy, family strengthening and peer mentorship to foster adherence self-efficacy, reduce depression and alleviate HIV-related stigma. Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa highlights significant gains in antiretroviral therapy adherence, viral suppression, self-concept and reductions in hopelessness, particularly among adolescents, female orphans and vulnerable women. Cost-effectiveness analyses and optimisation studies inform scalable models for integration into national social protection frameworks, emphasising sustainability and policy relevance across low- and middle-income settings.
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Economic Empowerment and Mental Health Interventions for HIV-Affected Populations publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in economic empowerment and mental health interventions for hiv-affected populations across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Youth Savings Account: A specially designed financial account with matched contributions and incentives to encourage saving among young people.
Group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (G-CBT): A structured, time-limited psychological intervention delivered in a group setting to modify unhelpful thoughts and behaviours.
Multiple Family Group: A community-based intervention convening several families to enhance communication, mutual support and stigma reduction.
Adherence Self-Efficacy: The confidence of an individual in their ability to follow prescribed antiretroviral therapy regimens consistently.
References
- Suubi + Adherence4Youth: a study protocol to optimize the Suubi Intervention for Adherence to HIV treatment for youth living with HIV in Uganda. BMC Public Health (2023).
- The long-term effects of a family based economic empowerment intervention (Suubi+Adherence) on suppression of HIV viral loads among adolescents living with HIV in southern Uganda: Findings from 5-year cluster randomized trial. PLOS ONE (2020).
- Utilizing a family-based economic strengthening intervention to improve mental health wellbeing among female adolescent orphans in Uganda. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health (2019).
- Evaluation of a savings-led family-based economic empowerment intervention for AIDS-affected adolescents in Uganda: A four-year follow-up on efficacy and cost-effectiveness. PLOS ONE (2019).
- Suubi4Stigma study protocol: a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial to address HIV-associated stigma among adolescents living with HIV in Uganda. Pilot and Feasibility Studies (2022).
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