Study Evaluates Effectiveness of Digital HIV Care Navigation Intervention

A recent study, published by JMIR Research Protocols, demonstrated the effectiveness of implementing a digital HIV care navigation intervention for young racial and ethnic minority men and transwomen.

The researchers described the HIV care navigation intervention called Health eNavigation, which provides supportive care structures to serve the youth and young adults outside of a clinic. The study assessed a 90-day period and used person-delivered short message service text messages to provide the participants with digital HIV care navigation over the course of 6 months. The overall aim of the intervention included: HIV care navigation, health promotion, motivational interviewing, and digital social support.

“Young racial and ethnic minority men who have sex with men (MSM) and trans women are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS in the United States. Unrecognized infection, due to a low uptake of HIV testing, and poor linkage to care are driving forces of ongoing HIV transmission among young racial and ethnic minority MSM and trans women,” the authors explained. “Internet and mobile technologies, in combination with social network-based approaches, offer great potential to overcome and address barriers to care and effectively disseminate interventions.”

The results revealed that a baseline, nearly a third of the 120 participants were newly diagnosed and 6.7% had never received primary HIV care. The data collected was able to demonstrate individual-level information securely through mobile devices. The daily text surveys were able to allow the HIV care navigator to supply personalized social support based on the responses about topics, including mental health and substance abuse. Additionally, emotional and informational support can be provided immediately that may not be addressed with a usual care provider, according to the authors.

“[The data is] reviewed by the HIV care navigator who can deliver personalized social support depending on how participants responded to text surveys. For example, 1 participant went approximately 30 days with no feelings of depression or anxiety,” noted the authors. “Suddenly, the participant started to indicate that they were feeling anxious or depressed. The digital HIV care navigator checked in with the participant via SMS text message and found out that they had not been able to successfully get a job, even after multiple interviews.”

The study concluded with tips for implementing this type of HIV care navigation intervention, such as developing a reference guide of resources, utilizing peers as digital HIV care navigators, and developing a feedback loop for digital HIV care navigation to inform the patient’s primary care team.

Reference

Arayasirikul S, Trujillo D, Turner C, et al. Implementing a Digital HIV Care Navigation Intervention (Health eNav): Protocol for a Feasibility Study [published online November 8, 2019]. JMIR Research Protocols. doi: 10.2196/16406.