Barriers to recruitment and retention of HIV-negative black south african women into behavioral HIV prevention programs

Recruitment and retention of participants remain a challenge to the implementation of behavioral hiv prevention programs. The aim of this article is to describe the process and challenges encountered while recruiting and retaining participants in the sista south africa study in particular and to provide an understanding of the barriers to participation in a behavioral hiv prevention program among black hiv-negative women in general. Focus group discussions were conducted with hiv-negative women in three peri-urban townships in the western cape province. The main barriers to participation were competing economic activities and domestic chores, the assumption that hiv prevention programs are mainly for hiv-positive women, hiv stigma, and uncertainties about hiv prevention programs. This study highlights advantages and pitfalls of recruiting from voluntary counseling and testing clinics and provides information for the development of meta-interventions to improve program participation.