A simple tool to evaluate the antiretroviral therapy programme in primary health care setting of Lesotho

An evaluative tool for the antiretroviral therapy programme was developed for use in the primary health care setting of Lesotho.

Information on processes followed in the development of standardized and acceptable evaluative tools is not always available to practicing nurses.

Behaviours affecting the antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme were contextualized using the conceptual model for social programmes and Intervention Wheel framework. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used to describe perceptions and explore experiences of nurses and patients. The Instrument Development Construct Validation process was used to develop an evaluative tool that was pre-tested on 17 respondents. Results were analysed using SPSS (23), and internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .768.

The tool collects information on staffing patterns, services offered, patients seen, time spent seeking services, consultation time, Antiretroviral (ARV) availability, staff adequacy, staff competency, equipment adequacy, service efficiency, activity documentation, patient satisfaction, job satisfaction, monitoring and evaluation.

The evaluative tool permits identification of factors affecting delivery of the ART programme, hence assisting nurses to improve services provided.

This method can be used to develop evaluative tools to assess implementation of public health services and inform successes, challenges and recognize improvement approaches.