ConexionesPositivas (CP) Spanish-language mHealth platform for Latinx people with HIV

Purpose #

To improve access to, and engagement in, HIV care for Spanish-speaking Latinx people with HIV (PWH) in the United States — a population for whom most existing mHealth apps, built for English speakers, are less accessible and may worsen linguistic inequities. ConexionesPositivas (CP) is a Spanish-language adaptation of PositiveLinks (PL), an evidence-based mHealth intervention for PWH, tailored through translation and adaptation informed by feedback from Spanish-speaking PWH during a pilot phase.

"ConexionesPositivas (CP) is an mHealth intervention adapted from PositiveLinks (PL), an evidence-based intervention for people with HIV (PWH), that includes many features targeting the challenges faced by Spanish speakers in the United States." (Kristen, 2023)

Mechanism #

CP is a self-monitoring smartphone application. Users complete daily check-in queries tracking medication adherence, mood, and stress; the check-ins are intended to empower patients to self-monitor rather than being monitored by the clinic. It also provides appointment reminders, educational resources, laboratory results, motivational messages, a community message board (CMB) for peer support among PWH, and secure messaging with clinic staff and providers. A monthly phone-credit incentive is applied to users' phone bills when they complete at least 48% of self-monitoring queries, offsetting phone/data costs and encouraging engagement.

"Some of these features include daily tracking of medication adherence, mood, and stress; appointment reminders; educational resources; laboratory results; and secure messaging with clinic staff and providers." (Kristen, 2023) "CP is a self-monitoring application in which mood and stress check-ins and medication reminders are not monitored by the clinic, but are intended to empower patients to self-monitor and improve their health." (Kristen, 2023)

Example(s) of usage #

Deployed with Spanish-speaking Latinx PWH recruited through a Latinx-serving community-based organization (CBO) in the Southern US. In this post-implementation study, 20 active CP users (active for at least 1 month) completed the System Usability Scale and semistructured interviews to evaluate and iteratively improve the platform via user-centered design.

"These participants were recruited by phone or in person at a Latinx-serving community-based organization (CBO) in the Southern US." (Kristen, 2023)

Other Notes #

CP was adapted from the English-language PL platform, which continues to undergo periodic updates; ongoing CP development is informed by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to improve accessibility for users with diverse needs and low literacy. (Note: the plugin's relation grammar does not yet define EVD/CLM→ART edges, so links to this artifact are wikilinks for now.)