Young men who have sex with men and digital technologies for HIV prevention and care: qualitative findings from the conectad@s study
Young men who have sex with men in Brazil face vulnerability to HIV and display lower PrEP uptake and adherence. Understanding their engagement with digital technologies can better inform mobile health (mHealth) strategies for HIV prevention and care. As part of the Conectad@s study, a HIV status-neutral prevention and care intervention for young men who have sex with men, we conducted semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 38 participants between January-February 2021. Participants discussed their use of digital technologies and their perceptions of mHealth interventions for HIV prevention and care. Key findings included the high use of digital technologies for social interaction and to meeting sex partners through dating apps; novel uses of communication and social networking apps to meet sex partners; strong acceptance of mHealth strategies to improve HIV prevention and care, with WhatsApp being the preferred platform; preference for receiving short messages containing information about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in addition to PrEP reminders; and interest in interacting with research team members, especially peers, to discuss combination HIV prevention.
Authors
- Anderson S. Alves
- Beatriz Gilda Jegerhorn Grinsztejn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3692-5155)
- Daniel R. B. Bezerra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1353-2762)
- Carla Rocha Pereira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4692-0665)
- Débora Castanheira
- Cristina Moreira Jalil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8845-3965)
- Emília Moreira Jalil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6017-5660)
- Eduardo Mesquita Peixoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5699-7290)
- Thiago S. Torres (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2557-601X)
- Erin C. Wilson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0237-495X)
- Nilo Martinez Fernandez
- Valdilea Gonçalves Veloso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6622-3165)
- Edmundo Marinho Neto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9149-1321)
- Willi Mc Farland
- Daniele Novaes
Institutions
- Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (BR)
- San Francisco Department of Public Health (US)
- Centro de Estudos e Pesquisa em Saúde Coletiva (BR)
- Associação Brasileira de Antropologia (BR)
- Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (BR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Culture Health & Sexuality
- Published
- 2024-12-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2024.2428329
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.56
Funders
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico