Table 2 Research themes and questions presented in ranked order

Theme 1: Addressing HIV-related stigma

Stigma has been identified as a crucial aspect when researching faith and health collaborations. As such, working to understand and address stigma on different levels remains an important focus of any future research in this field. Stigma related to Christian faith communities has thus far been researched much more than stigma related to or expressed in other faith traditions. While there is existing research on stigma and its various forms, it is very clear from this current research priority-setting that there is still a great need for future research on the subject to assess the success of faith involvement in HIV services

-What is needed for faith communities to become a safe space within their community?

-How does religion influence HIV-related stigma?

-How can HIV-related stigma be reduced within faith communities?

-How can HIV-related stigma be measured and quantified within faith communities?

-How can faith communities speak about sexuality in a positive way?

-How can faith communities help reduce stigma among families of people living with HIV?

Theme 2: Addressing sexuality within faith communities

HIV and sexuality have always been important and charged topics when connecting healthcare and faith initiatives. The way in which faith institutions and leaders address sexuality and prevention of HIV infection can have a major impact, either positive or negative. As such, finding ways in which sexuality and prevention can be addressed in a positive light needs to be a primary focus for any future research on faith and health initiatives

-How do faith communities address sexuality?

-How can faith leaders' attitudes towards sexuality and condom use be influenced to support the response to HIV?

-How can religious organizations involve youth in addressing and promoting healthy sexual behaviour?

-How can religious organizations address healthy sexual behaviour within their faith communities?

-What kind of theological capacity needs to be developed for HIV education and prevention to be an integral part of the church, including education on sexuality?

-What are the religious resources that would enable a religious community to talk about sexuality or sexual diversity?

-How can education on healthy sexual behaviour be promoted from different faith traditions?

Theme 3: Researching how to organize the role of faith organizations in HIV initiatives

The UN goal for scaling up community-based service delivery underscores the importance for community structures such as faith structures in identifying possible collaborations with the healthcare sector and entry points for these collaborations. While the research available states the importance of faith interventions, comparisons between interventions are rarely available. To further advance the field, research should focus on the steps that come after identifying the importance of faith involvement

-What is needed for diverse religious organizations to collaborate on HIV-related initiatives?

-What do diverse religious organizations need to support HIV treatment and adherence?

-What do diverse religious organizations need to support HIV surveillance?

-What do diverse religious organizations need to be involved in HIV-related palliative care?

-What is needed to include religious structures (faith-based organizations [FBOs], faith leaders, health services) in improving HIV-related initiatives?

-What elements of faith traditions can contribute to health initiatives?

-What in the faith tradition conflicts with health initiatives?

Theme 4: Addressing gender roles concerning HIV initiatives

HIV-related healthcare and gender roles are inevitably tied. More in-depth research needs to be conducted on the role that faith and faith initiatives can play in addressing HIV risk and prevention as it pertains to ideas on gender and behaviour

-How can faith communities influence young people’s ideas on gender roles?

-How can faith/health initiatives influence ideas about gender roles to improve HIV-related healthcare?

-How can faith leaders help include men in providing HIV-related healthcare?

-How can faith communities encourage men and boys to seek HIV-related healthcare?

Theme 5: Educating faith communities about HIV

The education of faith communities about HIV is a top priority for any faith and health collaboration. This education, in line with UN fast-track goals, should focus on different aspects and include behavioural, medical and structural prevention. Prevention as part of education is seen as an important but often practically challenging part of faith involvement. In addition to educating faith communities about HIV, it should be explored whether there is a corresponding need to educate healthcare workers or institutes about the possibilities of the faith sector providing community-based HIV service

-How can education for key actors involved in faith/health collaborations be efficiently organized and financed?

-What is the best way to educate faith leaders on how health systems function?

-What is the best way to educate health professionals about the role of religion in HIV-related healthcare and to connect with faith leaders?

-How can education on how antiretrovirals work be integrated into current education for faith leaders?

-How can faith communities be educated about HIV training and information when faith leaders want to support people living with HIV?

-How can education on disclosure be included in the training of faith leaders?

-In what ways can faith leaders be supported and motivating with respect to educating communities about HIV?

Theme 6: Keeping HIV on the global agenda through community support

Community organizations, including religious and faith organizations, are important actors in the field of HIV. How can community support with a focus on faith initiatives play a role in keeping HIV as an important agenda item for policy-makers, international organizations and other stakeholders? While advocacy organizations with a faith background have been working on agenda-setting, little research has been conducted on the success of this work

-What are ways in which national and international (healthcare) organizations can connect with faith leaders?

-Which issues can national and international (healthcare) organizations use as a means of connecting with faith leaders?

-What is the current position of national AIDS councils?

-What are successful examples of advocacy and how can these be scaled up?

-What is the role of faith-based organizations in HIV-related policy advocacy?

-How can HIV-related health services be integrated into the agenda of religious organizations?

-How can faith leaders be supported in forging networks to influence agenda-setting on HIV?

Theme 7: Strategies for mobilizing and organizing funding in a changing funding environment

HIV funding has been globally reprioritized, and there has been a shift towards less vertical and more integrated HIV funding programmes. At the same time, ministries of health are not used to fund activities that are organized by the faith sector, such as community-based HIV service delivery. Research is needed on how faith and faith initiatives can play a role in mobilizing HIV funding and how funding for faith and health collaboration can best be organized

-How can service provision of HIV services be guaranteed by funding FBOs?

-How can service provision of HIV services be guaranteed through government funding?

-How can service provision of HIV services be guaranteed by national and international private funders?

-What is the effect of different incentives on voluntary caregivers from FBOs?

-What can be done to coordinate funding efforts to be more effective?

Theme 8: Creating an environment for counselling and disclosure with faith leaders

Counselling and disclosure are important with respect to improving medication adherence and acceptance for people living with HIV. Faith leaders can play an important role in this, either positively or negatively. While stakeholders recognize the role that faith leaders have in creating a safe space for counselling and disclosure, more research is needed to determine how this can be achieved in a sustainable and inclusive way

-What approach is best for connecting with faith leaders who do not believe in HIV education?

-What are possible roles for faith leaders or pastoral workers in counselling people living with HIV?

-How can faith leaders counsel and support young people living with HIV?

-How can faith leaders/religious organizations support disclosure of HIV status?

-How can faith leaders and pastoral workers be supported in providing HIV-related counselling?

-How can faith leaders prevent people living with HIV from dropping out of church/mosque/synagogue/temple after they disclose their status to the community?

Theme 9: Monitoring and evaluating faith/health initiatives

Faith and health initiatives are present in different forms and on different levels. While some programmes are conducted thorough monitoring and evaluation, faith and health collaborations are often not monitored or evaluated in ways that are familiar to funders and researchers. Monitoring and evaluation are key to understanding impact, improving existing programmes and identifying sustainable collaborations for the future

-What kind of monitoring and evaluation is needed to evaluate the impact of the faith response to HIV?

-How can the documentation and data collection of current faith/health initiatives be optimized on different levels?

-How can promising faith/health initiatives be adapted to local settings or scale?

-How can local initiatives to improve sustainability be recognized and supported?

-What role does media play in HIV-related faith/health initiatives?

-Which faith communities are most likely to benefit from HIV training programmes?

Theme 10: Supporting specific populations through faith initiatives

Specific or key populations are an important focus of many HIV-related programmes. This theme aims to research what role faith and faith initiatives can play in this regard. It is evident that faith and specific key populations, such as men who have sex with men, or sex workers, have an ambiguous relationship. Faith organizations have been reported to have both a positive and negative impact on key HIV populations. The question of whether specific populations should be a focus of faith and health collaborations or—as stated by current UN goals—the focus of an inclusive approach that also addresses specific populations remains unanswered

-How can the faith sector support people living with HIV in prisons?

-How can religious organizations support children affected by the HIV epidemic (including noninfected orphans)?

-To what extent do faith/health initiatives need to be adapted to reach specific key populations?

-How can the faith sector support women and girls affected by the HIV epidemic?

-How can faith communities be educated on the needs of HIV-positive children/youth?

-How can children who are born HIV-positive be reached and supported in a church setting?