Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study
Background: HIV-related mHealth interventions have demonstrable efficacy in supporting treatment adherence, although the evidence base for promoting HIV testing is inconclusive. Progress is constrained by a limited understanding of processes used to develop interventions and weak theoretical underpi...
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| Format: | Article |
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BioMed Central
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38396/ |
| _version_ | 1848795601982980096 |
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| author | Evans, Catrin Turner, K. Suggs, L.S. Occa, A. Juma, A. Blake, H. |
| author_facet | Evans, Catrin Turner, K. Suggs, L.S. Occa, A. Juma, A. Blake, H. |
| author_sort | Evans, Catrin |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background: HIV-related mHealth interventions have demonstrable efficacy in supporting treatment adherence, although the evidence base for promoting HIV testing is inconclusive. Progress is constrained by a limited understanding of processes used to develop interventions and weak theoretical underpinnings. This paper describes a research project that informed the development of a theory-based mHealth intervention to promote HIV testing amongst city-dwelling African communities in the UK.
Methods: A community-based participatory social marketing design was adopted. Six focus groups (48 participants in total) were undertaken and analysed using a thematic framework approach, guided by constructs from the Health Belief Model. Key themes were incorporated into a set of text messages, which were pre-tested and refined.
Results: The focus groups identified a relatively low perception of HIV risk, especially amongst men, and a range of social and structural barriers to HIV testing. In terms of self-efficacy around HIV testing, respondents highlighted a need for communities and professionals to work together to build a context of trust through co-location in, and co-involvement of, local communities which would in turn enhance confidence in, and support for, HIV testing activities of health professionals. Findings suggested that messages should: avoid an exclusive focus on HIV, be tailored and personalised, come from a trusted source, allay fears and focus on support and health benefits.
Conclusions: HIV remains a stigmatized and de-prioritized issue within African migrant communities in the UK, posing barriers to HIV testing initiatives. A community-based participatory social marketing design can be successfully used to develop a culturally appropriate text messaging HIV intervention. Key challenges involved turning community research recommendations into brief text messages of only 160 characters. The intervention needs to be evaluated in a randomized control trial. Future research should explore the application of the processes and methodologies described in this paper within other communities. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:34:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-38396 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:34:41Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | BioMed Central |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-383962020-05-04T17:59:11Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38396/ Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study Evans, Catrin Turner, K. Suggs, L.S. Occa, A. Juma, A. Blake, H. Background: HIV-related mHealth interventions have demonstrable efficacy in supporting treatment adherence, although the evidence base for promoting HIV testing is inconclusive. Progress is constrained by a limited understanding of processes used to develop interventions and weak theoretical underpinnings. This paper describes a research project that informed the development of a theory-based mHealth intervention to promote HIV testing amongst city-dwelling African communities in the UK. Methods: A community-based participatory social marketing design was adopted. Six focus groups (48 participants in total) were undertaken and analysed using a thematic framework approach, guided by constructs from the Health Belief Model. Key themes were incorporated into a set of text messages, which were pre-tested and refined. Results: The focus groups identified a relatively low perception of HIV risk, especially amongst men, and a range of social and structural barriers to HIV testing. In terms of self-efficacy around HIV testing, respondents highlighted a need for communities and professionals to work together to build a context of trust through co-location in, and co-involvement of, local communities which would in turn enhance confidence in, and support for, HIV testing activities of health professionals. Findings suggested that messages should: avoid an exclusive focus on HIV, be tailored and personalised, come from a trusted source, allay fears and focus on support and health benefits. Conclusions: HIV remains a stigmatized and de-prioritized issue within African migrant communities in the UK, posing barriers to HIV testing initiatives. A community-based participatory social marketing design can be successfully used to develop a culturally appropriate text messaging HIV intervention. Key challenges involved turning community research recommendations into brief text messages of only 160 characters. The intervention needs to be evaluated in a randomized control trial. Future research should explore the application of the processes and methodologies described in this paper within other communities. BioMed Central 2016-07-28 Article PeerReviewed Evans, Catrin, Turner, K., Suggs, L.S., Occa, A., Juma, A. and Blake, H. (2016) Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 16 . 656/1-656/16. ISSN 1471-2458 HIV testing mHealth Text messaging African Community-based participatory research Social marketing http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-016-3278-4 doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3278-4 doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3278-4 |
| spellingShingle | HIV testing mHealth Text messaging African Community-based participatory research Social marketing Evans, Catrin Turner, K. Suggs, L.S. Occa, A. Juma, A. Blake, H. Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study |
| title | Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study |
| title_full | Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study |
| title_fullStr | Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study |
| title_short | Developing a mHealth intervention to promote uptake of HIV testing among African communities in the UK: a qualitative study |
| title_sort | developing a mhealth intervention to promote uptake of hiv testing among african communities in the uk: a qualitative study |
| topic | HIV testing mHealth Text messaging African Community-based participatory research Social marketing |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38396/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38396/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38396/ |