Background

Many of the side effects of antiretroviral medicines (ARVs) are dangerous. They can threaten the health of patients and challenge patients’ commitment to continuing treatment. The accompagnateur is the only trained person who sees the patient every day, and is therefore the most likely to notice side effects quickly and make sure the patient gets appropriate medical care. This unit provides accompagnateurs with the knowledge and skills they need to monitor patients for side effects, to advise them to seek treatment, and to counsel patients on the importance of adherence.

Objectives

By the end of the unit, participants will be able to:

1. Define the term “side effect.”
2. List five major side effects of ARVs.
3. Pose questions to assess whether a patient has side effects.
4. Recognize three signs for immediate referral to the clinic.
5. Recognize three signs for referral to the clinic within a week.

Time Required

1 hour, 50 minutes

Unit Overview

Key Points

• A bad reaction to a medicine is called a side effect.
• Antiretrovirals can cause many side effects.
• Accompagnateurs must ask patients how they are feeling every day.
• Patients with urgent side effects, including allergic reactions, should visit the clinic immediately.
• Patients with common non-urgent side effects should visit the clinic within a week of experiencing the side effect.
  

Download Files

To use this unit, you may download any or all of the four components:

• Facilitators' Manual (pdf) - English (8.1 MB) | Kinyarwanda (9.33 MB) | Kreyol (10.64 MB) | Sesotho (10.7 MB)
  
• Participants' Hand book (pdf) - English (8.1 MB) | Kinyarwanda (3.5 MB) | Kreyol (3.7 MB) | Sesotho (3.76 MB)
• Visual Aid (Powerpoint/pdf) - English [Flipcharts (1.5 MB)/ Slides (1.9 MB)] | Kinyarwanda (4.04 MB) | Kreyol (4.4 MB) | Sesotho (4.11 MB)
  
• Visual Aid Notes (pdf) - Kinyarwanda (2.85 MB) | Kreyol (2.86 MB) | Sesotho (7.76 MB)