Immigrant women living with HIV in Spain: a qualitative approach to encourage medical follow-up

Background Immigrant women living with HIV generally have worse adherence to medical treatment and follow-up when compared to native women and immigrant or native men. The general aim of this study was to improve healthcare services for HIV-positive women and to better understand why some of them discontinue treatment. The specific objectives were: (1) to explore the barriers and facilitators to medical follow-up among women and (2) to use the findings to create a guide for healthcare professionals with strategies and tools to encourage the immigrant women to continue with their healthcare treatment.