Qualitative Dataset for Brain Intervention

In this qualitative study, we aimed to describe how South African PLWH perceived and experienced the local adaptations of two US-designed CRT programs. We recruited 34 PLWH (27 women; age 30–50 years) from community healthcare clinics and a non-governmental organization. All had Xhosa as their home language, resided in low-income communities, and experienced at least mild NCI. Over a 5-week intervention period, participants completed ten 2-hour Cognitive Symptom Management and Rehabilitation Therapy (CogSMART-SA) group sessions and 20 self-guided 30-min BrainHQ^© sessions. Post-intervention, we hosted nine focus group discussions (3–5 participants each). We applied thematic analyses to the textual contents of those discussions, using decolonial community psychology frameworks (i.e., focusing on community needs and alternative approaches to researching historically marginalized groups, as well as on collaboration and community engagement through exchanges of culturally and socially relevant ideas).