{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T10:44:47Z","timestamp":1785408287996,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"AOSIS","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]],"date-time":"2025-12-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765152000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PHCFM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0Adolescents living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) aged 10\u201319 years account for 1.7 million globally, with 82% residing in sub-Saharan Africa. Older adolescents (15-19 years) assume greater responsibility for their own care, often leading to reduced adherence, lower retention, and poorer health outcomes. Understanding the role of healthcare workers (HCWs), key stakeholders in the HIV care continuum, is essential to strengthening transition practices and health system responses.\nAim:\u00a0To describe HCWs\u2019 perspectives on transition practices for adolescents living with HIV in the Cape Town Metropole, South Africa.\nSetting:\u00a0Six public primary health facilities in the Cape Town Metropole, South Africa.\nMethods:\u00a0A descriptive qualitative design was used. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 16 HCWs and analysed thematically.\nResults:\u00a0Healthcare workers identified challenges to optimal transition (theme 1), including delayed disclosure, low adolescent readiness, and inconsistent transition processes. Health service responses (theme 2), such as youth clubs and provider-adolescent relationships, were supportive but unevenly applied. Gaps and recommendations (theme 3) included improving youth club management and ensuring system-wide support to enhance engagement and continuity of care.\nConclusion:\u00a0Successful transition to adult HIV care requires structural and psychosocial support mechanisms. Healthcare workers play a critical role and should be supported to consistently implement adolescent-friendly services during and post-transition.\nContribution:\u00a0This study offers system-level insights to inform policy, HCW training, and integrated models of care tailored to adolescents living with HIV in primary health settings in South Africa.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/phcfm.v17i1.5060","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,4]],"date-time":"2025-12-04T13:33:14Z","timestamp":1764855194000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Health services\u2019 responses to transitioning adolescents to adult HIV care in South Africa"],"prefix":"10.4102","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3766-3890","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Charn\u00e9","family":"Petinger","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00h2vm590","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Western Cape"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2993-6553","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Talitha","family":"Crowley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00h2vm590","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Western Cape"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1032-1847","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Brian","family":"van Wyk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00h2vm590","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Western Cape"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","unstructured":"UNAIDS. Fact sheet 2024 \u2013 Latest global and regional HIV statistics on the status of the AIDS epidemic [homepage on the Internet]. 2024 [cited 2025 Apr 21]. Available from: http:\/\/hivfinancial.unaids.org\/hivfinancialdashboards.html"},{"key":"ref1","unstructured":"UNICEF. 2023 Global Snapshot on HIV and AIDS Progress and priorities for children, adolescents and pregnant women. New York, NY: UNICEF; 2023."},{"key":"ref2","unstructured":"Simbayi LCZK, Zuma K, Zungu N, et al. South African national HIV prevalence, incidence, behaviour and communication survey, 2017: Towards achieving the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. Cape Town: HSRC Press; 2019."},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zanoni BC, Sibaya T, Cairns C, Haberer JE. Barriers to retention in care are overcome by adolescent-friendly services for adolescents living with HIV in South Africa: A qualitative analysis. 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Transition from paediatric to adult care of adolescents living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, youth-friendly models, and outcomes. 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