Abstract: The Healthy Selfie Project: African American Young Men's Technology Use Patterns and Preferences for Smartphone-Based HIV Prevention and Treatment (Society for Social Work and Research 20th Annual Conference - Grand Challenges for Social Work: Setting a Research Agenda for the Future)

Schedule:

Saturday, January 16, 2016: 9:00 AM

Meeting Room Level-Meeting Room 6 (Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel)

* noted as presenting author

Charles Lea, MSW, Doctoral Student, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Ian W. Holloway, PhD, MSW, MPH, Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Donte Boyd, BA, Masters in Social Work, Washington University in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO

Terrell Winder, BA, Doctoral Student, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Background and Purpose: HIV incidence among young African American gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (hereafter AAYMSM) is increasing despite current prevention efforts. Smartphone penetration among AAYMSM is high, yet few intervention efforts have effectively harnessed this technology for HIV prevention and treatment with this population. The present study therefore sought to understand AAYMSM’s preferences for mobile smartphone-based HIV prevention, in order to inform culturally tailored interventions that have the potential to reduce the spread of HIV in among AAYMSM.

Methods: Six qualitative semi-structured focus groups were conducted with AAYMSM between the ages of 18 and 29 (N=41; 44% HIV positive) to elucidate their technology use patterns and preferences for the design and delivery of mobile smartphone-based HIV intervention. To recruit potential participants, flyers were posted in a range of community-based agencies serving AAYMSM throughout Los Angeles County, which instructed them to call a central number where they were asked a series of screening questions to determine their eligibility. AAYMSM were eligible if they were: 1) between the ages of 18 and 29; 2) biologically male and identified as male; 3) identified as Black or African American; (4) identified as gay, bisexual or had had sex with a man in the past 6 months; and 5) had access to a mobile smartphone. One research facilitated the focus group while two researches took notes. Focus groups were audio recorded, professionally transcribed, and coded by independent members of the research team in ATLAS.ti using a modified grounded theory framework.

Results: AAYMSM were largely supportive of smartphone-based interventions (e.g., apps, text messaging) that allowed them to privately access HIV prevention information, including locating HIV testing centers and HIV treatment providers. Almost all agreed that smartphone-based interventions would be more widely used if they targeted African American men’s health more broadly, so as to avoid stigma regarding same sex sexual behavior and tackle other pressing issues, such as discrimination, housing and employment. Participants were more inclined to use social media functionality (e.g., posting content, instant messaging) if it was not tied to their other social media profiles (e.g., Facebook, Instagram) and allowed them to anonymously ask questions of providers and/or peer-health educators in real-time. AAYMSM agreed that a core component of smartphone-based HIV prevention would be the ability to access trusted community-based providers who were culturally sensitive to the needs of AAYMSM.

Conclusions: Smartphone-based HIV prevention has the potential to increase engagement with HIV prevention resources among AAYMSM. For this approach to be successful, researchers and clinicians must pay particular attention to issues of privacy and confidentiality and offer functionality that enables discreet connections to culturally competent providers who can address the range of health and psychosocial concerns facing AAYMSM.