Integrating Depression Care Into HIV Services for Older People With HIV Using a Stepped Care, Task-Sharing Approach.

"It is a systematic, staged approach to delivering care based on the severity of a condition and the patient's response to treatment. In this model, less intensive interventions are provided first, and only those who do not improve progress to more intensive treatments.~In clinical research, stepped-care is classified as an adaptive intervention, where treatment is adjusted based on pre-specified criteria, making it patient-centered and resource-efficient."

Clients that are considered to be depressed are offered counselling by the Nurses who are the first point of contact. Depending on the severity of symptoms the client are then referred to the medical officer at the HIV clinic for assessment and offered counselling services by the counsellors. if symptoms are severe and considered to need specialist care the medical officer will refer to a specialist(psychiatrist) outside the HIV care facility.