Khanya Ekhaya: A Home-Based Intervention

Mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and harmful alcohol use are prevalent among people with chronic diseases, including HIV, and contribute to poor engagement in care. There is a need to address untreated mental health problems. Community health workers (CHWs) are frontline workers who play a central role in supporting vulnerable individuals to stay in care, including seeking people living with HIV who are newly initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) or re-initiating after a period of care disengagement. CHW-delivered interventions are promising for improving engagement and retention in care. Yet, these programs rarely address mental health -a significant barrier to chronic disease care engagement and treatment. An approach that moves beyond providing care in the clinic setting is needed. Community-delivered home-based mental health care has been shown to be feasible and acceptable and shows promise for integration into broader community health care services for people with chronic conditions, such as HIV.

NCT Number	NCT06985641
Lead Sponsor	University of Maryland, College Park Collaborators: Medical Research Council, South Africa, Fogarty International Center of the National Institute of Health, Curtin University
Conditions	HIV, HIV Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Adherence, Mental Health, Substance Use Disorders, Stigma, Community Health Workers, Training, Global Health +2 more
Enrollment	119 participants
Start Date	2025-09-01
Primary Completion	2026-04-01 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-06-15 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-05-22