Indlela

CHIBE Scientific Director Dr. Alison Buttenheim and Associate Director Dr. Harsha Thirumurthy continue to play a role in Indlela, the first-of-its-kind nudge unit they co-founded in 2020 in South Africa. Based at Wits University, Indlela is strengthening local capacity to do applied behavioral economics research and is partnering on research projects with many organizations that deliver HIV services in South Africa. Indlela’s work has included several evaluations of nudges and other behavioral interventions to improve HIV prevention and treatment outcomes in the country with the world’s largest HIV epidemic. The Indlela team recently published a study of ‘fresh start’ text messages to improve re-engagement in HIV care among individuals who have dropped out of care, as well as a study of alternative messaging strategies to increase utilization of HIV testing services.

Earlier this year, Indlela hosted their second nudgeathon that brought together behavioral scientists, policymakers, and non-governmental organizations to develop new ways to increase the use of more efficient care delivery models for people living with HIV. Indlela also established a Behavioral Lab in Johannesburg that will enable researchers to conduct rapid studies of human behavior, evaluate behavioral interventions in a lab setting before they are implemented on a larger scale, and design behavioral interventions with input from patients and providers.