Project HOPE: Online Social Network Changes in an HIV Prevention Randomized Controlled Trial for African American and Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men

Abstract

Objectives. We examined whether and how an HIV prevention diffusion-based intervention spread throughout participants’ online social networks and whether changes in social network ties were associated with increased HIV prevention and testing behaviors. Methods. We randomly assigned 112 primarily racial/ethnic minority men who have sex with men (MSM) to receive peer-delivered HIV (intervention) or general health (control) information over 12 weeks through closed Facebook groups. We recorded participants’ public Facebook friend networks at baseline (September 2010) and follow-up (February 2011), and assessed whether changes in network growth were associated with changes in health engagement and HIV testing. Results. Within-group ties increased in both conditions from baseline to follow-up. Among the intervention group, we found a significant positive relation between increased network ties and using social media to discuss sexual behaviors. We found a positive trending relationship between increased network ties and likelihood of HIV testing, follow-up for test results, and participation in online community discussions. No significant differences were seen within control groups. Conclusions. Among high-risk MSM, peer-led social media HIV prevention interventions can increase community cohesion. These changes appear to be associated with increased HIV prevention and testing behaviors.

Use of Mobile Devices, Social Media, and Crowdsourcing as Digital Strategies to Improve Emergency Cardiovascular Care

“…Increasingly, there are also requests for proposals from funding organizations (eg, National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, foundations) that call for research to study the opportunities to harness social media for insights about health behaviors, as well as the treatment and management of disease. [17][18][19] Social media and social networks are already being studied and used for a spectrum of health conditions, 113,[133][134][135][136][137][138] and there are a host of research questions that could be asked to test these approaches for emergency cardiovascular conditions (Table). Guidance also exists to develop research protocols for review by organizations that evaluate issues related to ethics, privacy, and patient protection.…”

The clinical effectiveness of individual behaviour change interventions to reduce risky sexual behaviour after a negative human immunodeficiency virus test in men who have sex with men: systematic and realist reviews and intervention development

“…The reasons for each decision are given in Appendix 3. Articles were excluded for not being a RCT or other suitable study, as specified in our inclusion criteria; not having the sufficient percentage of MSM in the study population; [137][138][139][140][141][142][143][144][145] not including a sufficient percentage of HIV-negative participants; [146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156] or not being an individually focused intervention, instead focusing on groups or structural factors. [157][158][159][160][161][162][163][164][165][166][167] Other reasons for exclusion, such as interventions not being brief, reporting a pilot trial, reporting non-HIV-specific data (e.g.…”

Social Media in the Sexual Lives of African American and Latino Youth: Challenges and Opportunities in the Digital Neighborhood

“…Three interventions included significant minority populations (above 50%) and three evidenced short-term increases in sexual risk-reduction behaviors including seeking information about STI testing and increased condom use (Bull, Levine, Black, Schmiege, & Santelli, 2012;Moreno, VanderStoep, et al, 2009;Young et al, 2014). In Young et al's (2014) Project HOPE study, 112 predominately African American men who have sex with men participated in a peer-delivered cluster randomized control trial via a private Facebook page. The intervention was designed to utilize social networks to strengthen connections.…”

“…They may serve as a complementary component to a face-to-face intervention, a standalone intervention, or a method to gather participant feedback on acceptability and feasibility. The aforementioned Bull et al (2012) and Young et al (2014) studies were effective even though they employed a closed social network strategy and did not fully capitalize on the dynamism and social networking. Rice et al (2012) effectively leveraged the social networks and peer leaders using social media to promote HIV prevention among homeless youth.…”