Synergies Between Cash and Care Interventions to Improve HIV Outcomes for OVC: Gap Analysis Report and Recommendations

Over the past two decades, a wave of gold-standard evidence on social cash transfer programs has transformed evaluation standards for evidence-informed policy-making. Assessments of care-based social services, while not as numerous, have informed policy development in important ways. Evaluations of the increasing number of integrated systems approaches that link cash and care, however, remain relatively scarce, and there are gaps in the information base policy-makers require to better design and implement integrated cash-plus-care interventions.

Cash plus care is an emerging model receiving growing attention as a comprehensive social protection approach, specifically within the context of HIV protection for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The existing evidence shows potential for positive impacts in multiple domains, including meeting basic needs, education support, and psychosocial support and wellbeing development. However, as an under-explored model, there are significant evidence, research and implementation gaps that require further research, particularly within the context of HIV risk. This document complements a separate evidence brief on cash plus care, providing a summary of the major research gaps in terms of design issues, implementation challenges and impact questions.