Youth Power Action Feasibility Study of Online Support Group Intervention Among Adolescents Living With HIV in Nigeria

Youth Power Action Feasibility Study of Online Support Group Intervention Among Adolescents Living With HIV in Nigeria

Youth Power Action Feasibility Study of Online Support Group Intervention Among Adolescents Living With HIV in Nigeria

This study will examine the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention designed to improve retention in HIV care services and improve anti-retroviral therapy (ART) adherence among adolescents ages 15-19 years living with HIV enrolled in ART services.

Study aim is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention designed to improve retention in HIV care services and improve anti-retroviral therapy (ART) adherence among adolescents ages 15-19 years living with HIV enrolled in ART services. A single group, pre/posttest design including structured questionnaires with adolescents living with HIV. Additionally, we will abstract clinical data from the medical record system. We will also conduct in-depth interviews with a subset of participants, as well as health care staff who are engaged in the intervention, at endline. The objectives of this study are: To examine the feasibility of implementing a mobile/electronic health (m/eHealth) intervention designed to improve retention in HIV care services and ART adherence among ALHIV ages 15-19 years through an online support group (using Facebook). To assess acceptability of and engagement in the intervention by the target audience to inform improvements to the intervention. To gather preliminary data on the psycho-social and health-related outcomes that the intervention is designed to affect to inform an outcome evaluation study that will be conducted following the conclusion of the feasibility study. To collect information on recruitment, informed consent and data collection processes to inform the outcome evaluation study of the current intervention that will be conducted once findings from this feasibility study are incorporated into the intervention design.

Participants will be enrolled to receive six sessions from the Positive Connections curriculum through the m/eHealth intervention that will use Facebook to conduct online structured support groups.

Participants will be enrolled to form five groups of 8 to 10 participants, and then participants will participate in the 6 sessions of the structured educational and group counseling curriculum through the online platform. The m/eHealth intervention components include: Informational messages that reflect the content of the structured group counseling curriculum, Positive Connections, and are posted to the group wall on a regular basis Moderated, closed group chats where ALHIV can interact with their peers and with a trained health counselor on a biweekly basis Access to a trained counselor via Facebook Messenger (during normal business hours) for the duration of the intervention who will be able to provide information or basic counseling on ART/HIV care related issues, with referral to health care services as needed

Participants level of engagement in support group activities informs on the feasibility of intervention, measured by percentage of active members who have at least one post in group chat session.

Acceptability score: A set of ten items asking if participants agreed=1 or disagreed=0 with statements on acceptability. Score represents a sum of the 10 items with a range of 0 to 10, and a greater number indicating agreement with more acceptability items.

Retention in HIV services will be measured using data abstracted from the medical record system on date of visits between enrollment and the endline of this study. To be considered retained in HIV services, an individual must, at 3 months after enrollment, have attended his/her most recently scheduled clinical follow-up visit within 1 month of the date when it was scheduled to take place.

Inclusion Criteria: HIV positive and currently on ART for at least 6 months Age 15 to 19 years Can demonstrate basic literacy necessary to participate in online chats Exclusion Criteria: Not planning to remain in the study area (within Akwa Ibom State) for the duration of the study (approximately 6 months) Currently enrolled in an in-person support group Currently enrolled in another research study related to HIV service retention or ART adherence Critically or severely ill requiring hospitalization or such that the individual is unable to provide informed consent at the time of study recruitment

Dulli L, Ridgeway K, Packer C, Plourde KF, Mumuni T, Idaboh T, Olumide A, Ojengbede O, McCarraher DR. An Online Support Group Intervention for Adolescents Living with HIV in Nigeria: A Pre-Post Test Study. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2018 Nov 28;4(4):e12397. doi: 10.2196/12397.