Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study

Abstract

BackgroundHIV-related mHealth interventions have demonstrable efficacy in supporting treatment adherence, although the evidence base for promoting HIV testing is inconclusive. Progress is constrained by a limited understanding of processes used to develop interventions and weak theoretical underpinnings. This paper describes a research project that informed the development of a theory-based mHealth intervention to promote HIV testing amongst city-dwelling African communities in the conditions.MethodsA community-based participatory social marketing design was adopted. Six focus groups (48 participants in total) were undertaken and analysed using a thematic framework approach, guided by constructs from the Health Belief Model. Key themes were incorporated into a set of text messages, which were pre-tested and refined.ResultsThe focus groups identified a relatively low perception of HIV risk, especially amongst men, and a range of social and structural barriers to HIV testing. In terms of self-efficacy around HIV testing, respondents highlighted a need for communities and professionals to work together to build a context of trust through co-location in, and co-involvement of, local communities which would in turn enhance confidence in, and support for, HIV testing activities of health professionals. Findings suggested that messages should: avoid an exclusive focus on HIV, be tailored and personalised, come from a trusted source, allay fears and focus on support and health benefits.ConclusionsHIV remains a stigmatized and de-prioritized issue within African migrant communities in the UK, posing barriers to HIV testing initiatives. A community-based participatory social marketing design can be successfully used to develop a culturally appropriate text messaging HIV intervention. Key challenges involved turning community research recommendations into brief text messages of only 160 characters. The intervention needs to be evaluated in a randomized control trial. Future research should explore the application of the processes and methodologies described in this paper within other communities.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3278-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

mHealth na prevenção das Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis (IST)

“…Of the 15 studies selected, one was published in 2017 14 , five were published in 2016 [15][16][17][18][19] , six were published in 2015 [20][21][22][23][24][25] , one was published in 2014 26 and two were published in 2013 27,28 . Most studies were conducted in the United States [14][15][16][18][19][20][21][23][24][25][26][27] , the United Kingdom 17,22 and in Africa 28 . All the studies were published in English.…”

“…With regard to the methodological processes used in the development of the 15 studies analyzed in this review, nine studies used formative research 15,16,[18][19][20]22,23,27,28 , one study used mixed methods 25 , and five studies used qualitative approaches 14,17,21,24,26 .…”

“…All the studies use the focus group technique to obtain data [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] . Two studies deepened the findings by carrying out individual interviews 21,28 and six studies also collected quantitative data 15,16,19,20,25,28 .…”

“…It should be noted that 14 studies were about apps with information about HIV prevention and treatment [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][23][24][25][26][27][28] . mHealth interventions have been promising to improve patient-professional communication in addition to providing health education and supporting self-management of HIV 27,28 .…”

“…All the studies used the focus group technique in order to understand the preferences for functions and interface 15,16,22,23,26,27 of applications for HIV prevention, treatment and testing promotion 14,17,18,20,21,24,28 and adherence to antiretroviral therapy 19,25 .…”