Experiences of HIV and/or AIDS caregiving by informal caregivers and the experience of care in low- and middle-income countries: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this review is to identify, appraise, and synthesize available evidence on the experiences of informal caregivers providing HIV and/or AIDS care and the experiences of care received by people living with HIV and/or AIDS (PLHIV) in sub-Saharan Africa.

Introduction: PLHIV share the burden of the disease with their informal caregivers throughout their lives. Experiences of HIV- and/or AIDS-related caregiving and care receiving have a significant impact on the treatment and physiological health outcomes of both care receivers and caregivers. However, there is limited evidence regarding how caregiving approaches and caregiving experiences influence HIV and/or AIDS care.

Inclusion criteria: This review will consider qualitative studies on informal caregivers providing HIV- and/or AIDS-related care and PLHIV receiving care in sub-Saharan Africa. Eligible studies will focus on positive and negative experiences of informal caregivers and PLHIV throughout the HIV/AIDS caregiving continuum.

Methods: A comprehensive search strategy will be developed to retrieve relevant articles from Ovid MEDLINE (R), Embase (Ovid), PsycINFO (Ovid), and CINAHL (EBSCOhost). The review will be conducted by 2 independent reviewers using the JBI approach to perform study selection, critical appraisal, data extraction, assessment of confidence, and data synthesis.

Review registration: PROSPERO CRD42023470996.