Facilitated WhatsApp Support Groups for Youth Living With HIV in Nairobi, Kenya: Single-Arm Pilot Intervention Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mobile technology can support HIV care, but studies in youth are limited. In 2014, youth receiving HIV care at several health care facilities in Nairobi, Kenya spontaneously formed peer support groups using the social media platform WhatsApp.

Objective

Inspired by youth-initiated groups, we aimed to evaluate the use of WhatsApp to deliver a social support intervention to improve HIV treatment and psychosocial outcomes in youth. We developed a facilitated WhatsApp group intervention (named Vijana-SMART), which was grounded in social support theory and guided by the design recommendations of youth living with HIV. This paper evaluates the intervention's acceptability and pre-post changes in health outcomes.

Methods

The intervention involved interactive WhatsA

SUBMITTER: Ronen K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10682925 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature