CGHE Member Portal

This project develops a digital assistance and telehealth platform to support people living with HIV in Aceh, Indonesia, a region marked by high stigma that discourages testing, treatment and retention in care. Led by teams at the University of Michigan and Universitas Syiah Kuala, with Narra Sains Indonesia as a partner, the project builds a telehealth dashboard for real-time monitoring and treatment adherence support and pairs it with strategies to improve HIV case-finding, testing uptake and linkage to care. The collaboration combines Michigan expertise in health policy analytics, epidemiology, nursing and digital health with local clinical and community knowledge to ensure the tools are technically robust and ethically implemented. The aim is to reduce barriers created by stigma and strengthen the full continuum of HIV care in the region.

This project assesses whether an Integrated Family Care model can be adapted to improve newborn care in Kenya. FICare brings parents and families into the care of small and sick newborns as active partners alongside clinical staff, an approach shown to improve outcomes but not yet widely tested in this setting. Led by investigators at Aga Khan University in Nairobi in partnership with the University of Michigan, the team examines the feasibility and acceptability of the model, drawing on Kenyan expertise in newborn and child health and Michigan strengths in qualitative methodology and implementation science. Through interviews and collaborative design, the project evaluates how families, providers and health systems experience the model, generating the evidence needed to plan a larger study and strengthen family-centered newborn care.

This project develops a culturally responsive mental health intervention for childbearing women with young children in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, adapting the Mom Power model to the local context. Pilot data gathered in Esmeraldas pointed to a clear need: women shared experiences of trauma, depression and suicidality, alongside hopes and a desire for places of connection and reflection. Led by a perinatal psychiatrist at Michigan Medicine in partnership with Ecuadorian collaborators and local health clinics, the team adapts and delivers the Ecorazón intervention to reduce stress and strengthen resilience, targeting depression, trauma-related symptoms and parenting stress. The team rigorously evaluates its acceptability and feasibility, generating pilot data to position a larger, externally funded study and to expand access to maternal mental health resources in the region.

This project pilots an approach to close a gap in care for cancer patients who are systematically missed by standard HIV testing. At Kenyatta National Hospital's Cancer Treatment Centre, in a country with a national HIV prevalence of 4.8 percent, patients often enter the health system through oncology, where clinical focus on the cancer means a concurrent HIV infection can go undiagnosed. The project introduces opt-out HIV testing into the cancer care pathway, pairs positive results with a dedicated linkage navigator who arranges same-day or next-day connection to the Comprehensive Care Clinic, and documents results in the patient's oncology file so treating clinicians can co-manage both conditions. Combining University of Michigan and Kenyan expertise in HIV medicine, oncology and health equity, the pilot models person-centered, integrated care that addresses the whole patient rather than a single disease.