Using mHealth to Increase Sexual Health Equity and Access Among Vulnerable Populations
Background: Young adult minority women have disproportionate rates of sexually transmitted diseases, compared with men and women of other age and ethnic groups. Additionally, these women report unintentional pregnancies at higher rates than other age and ethnic groups. These sexual health disparities are often associated lack of healthcare access and utilization, sexual relationship concurrency, and healthcare provider misreporting.
New learning styles are needed for young adults because they are so different from the generations that came before them. Based on the high rates of text messaging among minority women and the efficacy of prior sexual health text message interventions, the use of a sexual health text messaging interventions among vulnerable populations is warranted. Instead of creating entirely new interventions, however, adaptation of effective interventions is recommended.
Methods:The ADAPT-ITT model can be used to guide the adaptation of evidence-based, sexual health interventions from traditional, face-to-face interventions to text message interventions. The steps of the model include: assessment, decision, adaption, production, topical experts, integration, training, and testing. These steps can be implemented as a three-phase, mixed methods study.
Results: Study findings will be presented in future scholarly posters, presentations, and journal articles.
Implications: There is a strong need for effective mHealth interventions. The adaptation of traditional evidence-based interventions to mobile phone interventions allows for the delivery of these newly adapted interventions in various settings. Previously, only specially trained health practitioners or educators could implement the sexual health interventions. Through text-messaging delivery, untrained employees schools, community centers, health clinics, churches, and other facilities outside of the traditional healthcare settings can promote these interventions.
The findings of this research study will help other researchers to understand how to adapt a successful intervention from a face-to-face model to a promising mHealth model. Receiving a sexual health intervention via text message may decrease barriers to health education associated with lack of time or access to quality healthcare facilities. The use of mHealth removes the burden of trying to find the time to learn about sexual health and incorporates this much needed education into the lives of young women using a form of media with which they are already familiar and use often. It also has the potential to reach disenfranchised women and those with limited access to health care.