Mobile apps for HIV prevention: how do they contribute to our epidemic response for adolescents and young adults?

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Patrick Sullivan, Emory University; Lisa Hightow-Weidman, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-04-01
• Publisher: AME Publishing Company
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © mHealth. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/mhealth-20-71
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: mHealth
• Volume: 7
• Start Page: 36
• End Page: 36
• Grant/Funding Information: This manuscript was completed with support from grant NICHD (U19HD089881) and was facilitated by the Emory University Center for AIDS Research (P30AI050409) and the UNC Center for AIDS Research (P30 AI050410).
• Keywords: pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); HIV prevention; public health services; mHealth tools
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Human Development; Health Sciences, Epidemiology

Abstract

Mobile health (mHealth) tools to address the HIV epidemic have proliferated in recent years. Yet when applied to the United States (US) epidemic, which is driven by new HIV infections among men who have sex with men (MSM), it is not clear how mHealth tools fit in the overall portfolio of biobehavioral prevention interventions and clinical services proven to be efficacious. Adolescent and young adult MSM are particularly vulnerable and reducing HIV incidence among this priority population will require substantial levels of uptake of multiple prevention strategies (i.e., HIV testing, condom use, sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and treatment for those with HIV infection). Starting from the premise that adolescents are avid consumers of technology, this paper considers the particular strengths and opportunities of mHealth tools to address HIV prevention and provides examples of mHealth approaches that have been tested or are in development in these areas. Even after mHealth interventions are proven effective, there will be important intervening steps before such tools can be deployed and integrated into existing prevention programs given the diverse landscape of prevention service delivery. We anticipate some of the likely barriers to broad implementation of proven mHealth interventions in the context of the US public health funding and service delivery infrastructure and provide recommendations to increase efforts for future scale-up and dissemination.