A mobile application to monitor mode, content and duration of health navigation services for people living with HIV in Guatemala

ABSTRACT

Health navigation is increasingly being used to support people living with HIV, but timely monitoring of navigation is challenging due to the burden of reporting a high volume of diverse activities. We designed a mobile application (app) for navigators to report their interactions with men who have sex with men living with HIV (n = 374), including: (1) mode of support; (2) content; and (3) duration. We assessed sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics of the study sample and calculated monitoring system indicators. We also conducted qualitative interviews with navigators (n = 7) and used thematic analysis to assess app acceptability and usability. From January 2017 to June 2018, 95.3% of participants interacted with their navigator at least one time and 4281 reports were recorded by nine navigators. The median number of interactions per participant was 10 (range: 1–46). The majority of interactions (71.6%) occurred remotely. Most frequently covered topics included: appointment reminders (36.9%), employment (19.9%), and family (15.5%). Navigators indicated that the system was easy to use, but some did not use it in real time as intended. Timely access to navigator data enabled feedback and continuous training. These data can also facilitate analysis of intensity and content of interactions to improve tailoring and sustainability.

KEYWORDS:

• Navigation
• monitoring
• HIV
• MSM
• Guatemala

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the study participants and health navigators for sharing their experiences and suggestions for improvement of the monitoring app.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by PEPFAR through the Cooperative Research Agreement between CDC Central America and UVG EIR-HIV-KPIS CoAg 1U01GH001003-05.