Table 2.

Summary of qualitative review findings.

Review finding	Contributing studies	Confidence in the evidencea	Explanation of confidence in the evidence assessment
Participant gender. Among low and middle-income countries in Africa, the HIV-infected individual's gender influenced the uptake of the intervention. Men living with HIV had decreased engagement in HIV care compared to women and also influenced the willingness of their partners to engage HIV services.	MacPherson, 2013, Shroufi et al., 2013, Kroeger et al., 2011, Naik et al., 2013	High	4 studies with minor to moderate methodological limitations. Thick data from four African countries, two middle-income countries and low low-income countries. High coherence.
Clinical navigation and service orientation. Some people living with HIV (PLHIV) reported that once they reached the hospital, they were disoriented and encountered challenges accessing clinical care or ARVs. Several HIV interventions that improved clinical navigation were feasible and acceptable to PLHIV.	Busza et al., 2014b, Agbonyitor, 2009, Lazarus et al., 2012, Miller et al., 2010, Smillie et al., 2014, Cameron et al., 2009, Johnson et al., 2003, Prentice et al., 2011	Moderate	8 studies with minor to significant methodological limitations. Thick data from 8 countries, half in Africa. High coherence.
Mental health service integration. PLHIV identified unmet mental health needs that interfered with their ability to embrace interventions. Integration of HIV and mental health services improved intervention uptake and engagement in HIV services across the continuum of care.	Shroufi et al., 2013, Jama and Tshotsho, 2013, Lazarus et al., 2012, Smillie et al., 2014, Cameron et al., 2009, Johnson et al., 2003, Magidson et al., 2014, Montoya et al., 2014, Nunn et al., 2010, Prentice et al., 2011, Weiss et al., 2006	Moderate	11 studies with minor methodological limitations. Reasonably thick data from 7 countries, although high-income countries accounted for 7/11 studies. Interventions in middle-income countries were less intensive. High coherence.
Participant socioeconomic status. Individual socioeconomic status mediated intervention effectiveness. People with HIV living in poverty faced greater challenges engaging in interventions. Some HIV-infected individuals did not disclose their serostatus to family and friends, further limiting their access to resources. People living with HIV noted that several projects focused on alleviating poverty were feasible and acceptable in the context of larger HIV interventions.	Bezabhe et al., 2014, Busza et al., 2014a, Busza et al., 2014b, Agbonyitor, 2009, Ferguson et al., 2014, Lazarus et al., 2012, Miller et al., 2010, Sarna et al., 2014, Smillie et al., 2014, Naik et al., 2013, Garland et al., 2011	High	11 studies with minor methodological limitations. Thick data from 8 countries, predominately low and middle-income countries in Africa. High coherence.
Transportation assistance. Lack of regular transport to clinic appointments and to pick up ARVs was difficult for parents living with HIV and those caring for children living with HIV. Transportation assistance to the clinic and to obtain ARVs increased the feasibility and acceptability of HIV interventions.	Bezabhe et al., 2014, Busza et al., 2014b, Nsigaye et al., 2009, Agbonyitor, 2009, Jama and Tshotsho, 2013, Kroeger et al., 2011, Lazarus et al., 2012, Miller et al., 2010, Sarna et al., 2014, Naik et al., 2013, Johnson et al., 2003, Magidson et al., 2014, Nunn et al., 2010	High	13 studies with minor to moderate methodological limitations. Thick data from 9 countries, mostly in low and middle-income countries in Africa. High coherence.
Housing for homeless and marginally housed individuals. Among individuals from high-income countries, housing support delivered as part of the intervention improved linkage and retention in care. Housing support in this subset of PLHIV provided a more stable environment, enhancing the overall intervention.	Lazarus et al., 2012, Cameron et al., 2009, Johnson et al., 2003, Nunn et al., 2010, Prentice et al., 2011, Anaya et al., 2015	Moderate	6 studies with minor methodological limitations. Relatively thick data from three high-income countries in Europe and North America. High coherence.
Food insecurity. Lack of food limited the extent to which PLHIV engaged in interventions and were retained in care. Some PLHIV were unable to have sufficient food to accompany their ARVs, influencing their ARV adherence. Food assistance was a critical determinant of several interventions across the HIV continuum of care.	Bezabhe et al., 2014, Busza et al., 2014a, Agbonyitor, 2009, Lazarus et al., 2012, Cameron et al., 2009, Johnson et al., 2003, Nunn et al., 2010, Prentice et al., 2011)	Moderate	8 studies with minor to significant methodological limitations. Thick data from seven countries, including three studies from low and middle—income countries in Africa. High coherence.

^aThe CERQual confidence refers to the overall confidence in the review finding based on assessing components related to relevance, adequacy, coherence, and methodological rigor as described in detail in the methods section.