“Correcting Misinformation is Challenging” - Exploring Barriers and Facilitators of Health Care Providers’ Responsiveness to Cervical Cancer Screening Literacy Needs of Rural Women Living With HIV in Eastern Uganda

Sep 22, 2026

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Cervical cancer screening literacy among rural women living with HIV (WLHIV)—the ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply screening information—faces individual and structural constraints. A descriptive qualitative study conducted 15 key informant interviews across four purposively selected rural public health facilities in Eastern Uganda used a health literacy responsiveness framework for deductive categories and inductive thematic identification. Findings highlighted planning exclusion, funding and staffing limits, long waits, inadequate IEC materials, and language and misconception challenges, alongside partner support, integrated HIV care, consumer-centered navigation, peer education, and locally delivered communication.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keywords

Received, revised, accepted

| “Correcting Misinformation is Challenging”: Exploring Barriers and Facilitators of Health Care Providers’ Responsiveness to Cervical Cancer Screening Literacy Needs of Rural Women Living With HIV in Eastern Uganda | Cancer Control Volume 33: 1-14 © The Author(s) 2026 Article reuse guidelines:
[sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/10732748261419591](DOI: 10.1177/10732748261419591)
[journals.sagepub.com/home/ccx](journals.sagepub.com/home/ccx)

| | --- | --- | | Juliana Namutundu, MHSR 1 􀀁, Edith Nakku-Joloba, PhD1, Juliet Kiguli, PhD2, Fredrick Makumbi 1, Fred C. Semitala, MMed, MPH3,4, Rhoda K. Wanyenze, PhD5, Miriam Laker-Oketta, MD, MSc6, Damalie Nakanjako, PhD3,6, and
Miriam Nakalembe, PhD6,7
Abstract
Introduction: Cervical cancer screening literacy among rural women living with HIV (WLHIV), the ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply cervical cancer screening information to use cervical cancer screening services, is affected by individual factors including low educational attainment, low socioeconomic status, poor cervical cancer risk perception, fear, misconceptions, and beliefs, as well as interpersonal, community, and health facility barriers. However, rural public health facilities have limited resources that limit their ability mitigate these challenges. This research identiﬁed barriers and facilitatorsof healthcare providers’ responsiveness to cervical cancer screening literacy needs of rural WLHIV in Eastern Uganda. Methods: This was a descriptive qualitative study that involved conducting 15 Key Informant Interviews with all individuals involved in planning, communicating, and providing cervical cancer screening services at 4 purposively selected rural public health facilities in Eastern Uganda. Data were collected using a guide developed based on the organizational Health Literacy responsiveness framework. This framework was used to derive deductive categories (domains and sub-domains) during thematic analysis, and barriers and facilitators were inductively identiﬁed from the interviews.
Results: Barriers included non-involvement of health workers and affected women in planning, limited funding, few trained health workers, long waiting times, limited space, limited communication modalities, inadequate Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials, IEC materials not translated to the local language, challenges with addressing misconceptions, and language barriers. Facilitators included support from implementing partners, free cervical cancer screening services, integration of cervical cancer screening into HIV care, consumer-centered care, clear pathways and navigation support, using peers during health education, availability of IEC materials, using simple, local language during education sessions, and health worker facilitation.
Conclusion: Strategies targeted at the identiﬁed factors can improve health care providers’ responsiveness to the cervical cancer screening literacy needs of rural WLHIV in Eastern Uganda. | | | 1 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda 2Department of Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda 3Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Makerere UniversityCollege of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda 4Makerere University Joint AIDS Program (MJAP), Kampala, Uganda
5Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda 6Infectious Diseases Institute, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
7Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Corresponding Author:
Juliana Namutundu, MHSR, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Makere

FAQs

What problem does the study address regarding rural women living with HIV?

It examines how cervical cancer screening literacy needs are met and how misinformation-correcting challenges relate to barriers and facilitators in rural health care settings.

How was the research conducted?

The study used a descriptive qualitative design with 15 key informant interviews across four purposively selected rural public health facilities in Eastern Uganda.

What were key barriers and facilitators for health care providers’ responsiveness?

Barriers included limited involvement in planning, inadequate funding and trained staff, long waiting times, insufficient or untranslated IEC materials, and language difficulties in addressing misconceptions. Facilitators included partner support, free screening, integration into HIV care, clear navigation support, peer-led education, locally simple language, and health worker facilitation.

Sep 22, 2026

Upload by Patrick