This service support intervention concerts existing HIV prevention initiatives and services in favour of the choice-disabled, thus increasing effectiveness of local efforts without additional public investment.

Within each community allocated to receive the Concerting intervention, fieldworkers identify a local contact to lead concerting HIV prevention in favour of the choice-disabled. They also identify local prevention players (church leaders, health workers, private practitioners, teachers, traditional leaders, community based organisations), and review access and services for the choice-disabled, emphasizing the likely benefits if services could be concerted in favour of the choice-disabled.

Fieldworkers share with individual service providers evidence about choice-disability from recent surveys in the country and region, using pictorial means to illustrate statistical findings. We piloted several different data representation methods before finally one including “realistic” representations of groups of men and women.

As well as working with individual service providers, the fieldworkers try to identify potential synergies to develop functional partnerships between different providers. When feasible, they set up a local forum of service providers to consider ways they can act in concert to reach and serve the needs of the choice-disabled in the local community. Some of these fora are based on existing groups in the communities. A small fund supports development of functional partnerships and activities to raise the profile of choice disability within the community.