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This qualitative study is rooted in the field of public health services. It identifies the barriers and facilitators influencing adherence to antiretroviral treatment in Sierra Leone. The interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to identify emerging themes from the data. The study identified several facilitators and barriers to ART adherence at the personal, community, and health system levels.
The facilitators included perceived benefits of ART, family support, having an informal caregiver, receiving free ART medicines, and belonging to peer support groups. The identified barriers were stigma and discrimination, frequency of medication, use of traditional medicine, lack of money for food and transport, work barriers, inadequate medicines and test kits, limited health workers, and long distances to clinics.
Our study emphasized the need for implementing behavioural change communication programmes and activities to reduce stigma and discrimination in the community.
