Should voluntary counseling and testing counselors address alcohol use with clients? Findings from an operations research study in Kenya

This report published by USAID looks at the role of alcohol on HIV prevention behaviours, the efficacy of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and its use in voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) settings.  The study included focus group discussions with VCT counselors, ART service providers and their patients, and providers and patients from substance abuse recovery centers.

The result finds that there is a need to incorporate alcohol counselling into VCT service provision, as alcohol use was fairly common among VCT clients. Providers are receptive toward being trained on alcohol counselling. VCT counsellors reported that it is not uncommon for alcohol users to seek HIV testing while intoxicated to help them cope with the stress of learning their HIV status. Another challenge for counsellors is how to help women clients who are concerned about their husband’s or partner’s drinking and the fact that it impedes communication about preventing HIV transmission. Following the results of the formative study, a training module for VCT counsellors and screening tools for clients are being developed by project partner Liverpool VCT and Care. These will be used in an intervention that will train VCT counsellors so that they are able to identify alcohol users, offer brief counselling, and provide appropriate referrals. The intervention will be assessed through operations research beginning in 2006.