IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v45y2014icp98-105.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving HIV testing amongst adolescents through an integrated Youth Centre rewards program: Insights from South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Black, Samantha
  • Wallace, Melissa
  • Middelkoop, Keren
  • Robbertze, Dante
  • Bennie, Thola
  • Wood, Robin
  • Bekker, Linda-Gail

Abstract

Despite high HIV prevalence the uptake of HIV counseling and testing (HCT) has been low in South African adolescents, in particular among boys. We designed and implemented an integrated Youth Centre (YC), which included a health clinic and a points based rewards program to incentivize YC services, adjacent to a peri-urban community in Cape Town. We compared 12month age and gender specific HCT rates for 12–22year olds between the YC and the single local community clinic in the adjacent community prospectively and for the 12months prior to YC implementation. Local clinic data were collected through the HCT register. At the YC demographic, attendance, incentives and HIV testing data were prospectively collected via a biometric data collection system. 1187 12–22year olds attended the YC in the 12month period. Within the 12–15year old age group, 12.7% more individuals tested at the YC compared to the clinic in 2011–2012; this difference was greater in males than females. In the 16–22year category, significantly more individuals tested at the clinic compared to the YC. The use of the YC reward program was associated with undergoing an HIV test. Understanding the specific programmatic factors that led to increased testing behaviour including the role of incentives at the YC warrants further attention.

Suggested Citation

  • Black, Samantha & Wallace, Melissa & Middelkoop, Keren & Robbertze, Dante & Bennie, Thola & Wood, Robin & Bekker, Linda-Gail, 2014. "Improving HIV testing amongst adolescents through an integrated Youth Centre rewards program: Insights from South Africa," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 98-105.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:45:y:2014:i:c:p:98-105
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914001315
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Obermeyer, C.M. & Osborn, M., 2007. "The utilization of testing and counseling for HIV: A review of the social and behavioral evidence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(10), pages 1762-1774.
    2. Hans-Peter Kohler & Rebecca L. Thornton, 2012. "Conditional Cash Transfers and HIV/AIDS Prevention: Unconditionally Promising?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 165-190.
    3. Leigh Johnson & Rob Dorrington & Debbie Bradshaw & Victoria Pillay-Van Wyk & Thomas Rehle, 2009. "Sexual behaviour patterns in South Africa and their association with the spread of HIV: insights from a mathematical model," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 21(11), pages 289-340.
    4. Rebecca L. Thornton, 2008. "The Demand for, and Impact of, Learning HIV Status," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1829-1863, December.
    5. Ferrand, R.A. & Trigg, C. & Bandason, T. & Ndhlovu, C.E. & Mungofa, S. & Nathoo, K. & Gibb, D.M. & Cowan, F.M. & Corbett, E.L., 2011. "Perception of risk of vertically acquired HIV infection and acceptability of provider-initiated testing and counseling among adolescents in Zimbabwe," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(12), pages 2325-2332.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kathleen Beegle & Michelle Poulin & Gil Shapira, 2015. "HIV Testing, Behavior Change, and the Transition to Adulthood in Malawi," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(4), pages 665-684.
    2. Inghels, Maxime & Kim, Hae-Young & Mathenjwa, Thulile & Shahmanesh, Maryam & Seeley, Janet & Wyke, Sally & McGrath, Nuala & Sartorius, Benn & Yapa, H. Manisha & Dobra, Adrian & Bärnighausen, Till & Ta, 2022. "Can a conditional financial incentive (CFI) reduce socio-demographic inequalities in home-based HIV testing uptake? A secondary analysis of the HITS clinical trial intervention in rural South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    3. Packel, Laura J. & de Walque, Damien & Feeney, Kevin C. & Balampama, Marianna P. & Cooper, Jan E. & Kalolella, Admirabilis & Wechsberg, Wendee M. & Dow, William H., 2021. "A randomized trial of cash incentives for sexual behavior change among female sex workers in Dar es Salaam," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    4. Owusu-Addo, Ebenezer & Renzaho, Andre M.N. & Smith, Ben J., 2018. "Evaluation of cash transfer programs in sub-Saharan Africa: A methodological review," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 47-56.
    5. de Walque, Damien, 2020. "The use of financial incentives to prevent unhealthy behaviors: A review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    6. Gabriel Chamie & Alex Ndyabakira & Kara G Marson & Devy M Emperador & Moses R Kamya & Diane V Havlir & Dalsone Kwarisiima & Harsha Thirumurthy, 2020. "A pilot randomized trial of incentive strategies to promote HIV retesting in rural Uganda," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-10, May.
    7. Gerritzen, Berit C., 2014. "Intra-Household Bargaining Power and HIV Prevention: Empirical Evidence from Married Couples in Rural Malawi," Economics Working Paper Series 1408, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    8. Rebecca L. Thornton & Hans-Peter Kohler, 2017. "Making marriages last: trust is good, but credible information is better," WIDER Working Paper Series 173, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Okeke, Edward N. & Abubakar, Isa S., 2020. "Healthcare at the beginning of life and child survival: Evidence from a cash transfer experiment in Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    10. Sterck Olivier, 2013. "Why are Testing Rates so Low in Sub-Saharan Africa? Misconceptions and Strategic Behaviors," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 1-39, September.
    11. Angotti, Nicole & Bula, Agatha & Gaydosh, Lauren & Kimchi, Eitan Zeev & Thornton, Rebecca L. & Yeatman, Sara E., 2009. "Increasing the acceptability of HIV counseling and testing with three C's: Convenience, confidentiality and credibility," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2263-2270, June.
    12. Olivier STERCK, 2011. "Why only one individual tests for HIV/AIDS among Sub-Saharan African Couples?," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2011024, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    13. Mark E. McGovern & Kobus Herbst & Frank Tanser & Tinofa Mutevedzi & David Canning & Dickman Gareta & Deenan Pillay & Till Bärnighausen, 2016. "Do Gifts Increase Consent to Home-based HIV Testing? A Difference-in-Differences Study in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa," CHaRMS Working Papers 16-05, Centre for HeAlth Research at the Management School (CHaRMS).
    14. Rebecca L. Thornton & Hans-Peter Kohler, 2017. "Making marriages last: Trust is good, but credible information is better," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-173, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Yao Yao, 2022. "Fertility and HIV Risk in Africa," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 109-133, July.
    16. Francesco Capozza & Ingar Haaland & Christopher Roth & Johannes Wohlfart, 2021. "Studying Information Acquisition in the Field: A Practical Guide and Review," CEBI working paper series 21-15, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    17. Omar Galárraga & Sandra Sosa-Rubí & César Infante & Paul Gertler & Stefano Bertozzi, 2014. "Willingness-to-accept reductions in HIV risks: conditional economic incentives in Mexico," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 15(1), pages 41-55, January.
    18. Kai Barron & Luis F. Gamboa & Paul Rodríguez-Lesmes, 2019. "Behavioural Response to a Sudden Health Risk: Dengue and Educational Outcomes in Colombia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 620-644, April.
    19. Fitzsimons, Emla & Malde, Bansi & Mesnard, Alice & Vera-Hernández, Marcos, 2016. "Nutrition, information and household behavior: Experimental evidence from Malawi," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 113-126.
    20. Kévin Jean & Xavier Anglaret & Raoul Moh & France Lert & Rosemary Dray-Spira, 2012. "Barriers to HIV Testing in Côte d'Ivoire: The Role of Individual Characteristics and Testing Modalities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(7), pages 1-9, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:45:y:2014:i:c:p:98-105. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.