Table 6 Themes on facilitation strategies

Facilitators

Coordination & teamwork

"The difficult ones one, like I said earlier, I will just refer to the next counselor so that he/she can also try because remember maybe the skills that I am using is not the same skills that the other person is going to use and that has really helped us because where I work, we have varied age brackets." KII 023

Training

"And then we also have the regular refresher courses. Some of these we do them internally, we share experiences why is somebody succeeding and you are not succeeding. We compare the notes and then we come up with ways of consolidating our working experiences." KII 016

Support supervision

“Yes, support supervision also helps a lot. You know when we go there you open up and share the challenges you are facing with the clients, the experiences of the other HTS providers, how better others are doing it so that you can also do and achieve. Yes. When you get a colleague being praised for doing a commendable job and you are doing the same thing, you can share in these forums and get to know whatever this person is doing differently that you can also do." KII 028

Facility features

Facility type (public / private / faith-based)

"Interviewer: …What about the government versus private hospital or mission hospital? Which one is easier? Provider: I think government is better being that many people know that some services are offered for free but in private hospital you will be charged most of the services." KII 027

Facility location (rural / urban)

"Interviewer: Okay, what about the facilities in urban versus rural areas, which one is easier to work in for aPS? Provider: Rural Interviewer: Why? Provider: Because in rural, when a client tells where the home is then you will get him/her but in urban mostly clients stay in rentals. Sometimes somebody can tell you “Come next week” when you go you find that the person has moved. But with rural if you’re given locator (information) and you are told where the home is then you are sure you will get the client or you will find the person who knows the client" KII 030

Facility size / patient volume

"I think in bigger facilities like the sub county hospitals it (aPS) can work better. You see most people like bigger facilities so if you tell them that you are calling from [county hospital name], compared to someone who calls and says the call is from a dispensary then you will find that they will prefer to come to [county hospital name] because that is where they will get many services. " KII 027

"Ok, the size of the facility may not affect the performance, provided that the facility has organized itself well; the staff working in the facility. If there is teamwork in the facility, even if the facility is small, then work will be seen." KII 026