“I’m living my life now and no longer crying like before”. Implementation lessons from the Common Element Treatment Approach in Gauteng, SA: Targeting vulnerable populations.

Background: One barrier to ART treatment adherence in South Africa is intimate partner violence
(IPV), which can also affect mental health. The Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA) is an
evidence-based intervention that simultaneously addresses multiple mental health and other related
problems, including IPV that can be delivered by lay-counsellors and adapted to meet an individual’s
psychological needs. While the intervention has been shown to be successful in reducing mental
health symptoms and IPV occurrence, its impact on HIV adherence and retention in care has yet to
be tested.