THE VIRTUAL PROMOTORAS PROGRAM: DEVELOPMENT AND FEASIBILITY OF AN mHEALTH INTERVENTION TO PROMOTE SEXUAL HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE ACCESS AMONG YOUNG LATINA WOMEN IN THE US SOUTH

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The goals of the proposed study are to develop and examine the feasibility of an innovative, scalable mHealth, “safe space” intervention for Young Latina Women (YLW) in Alabama (AL) and to stimulate the conduct of behavioral research at the University of AL. YLW are disproportionately affected by sexual health disparities compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Hispanic youth are significantly less likely than their non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic white counterparts to have a usual place for preventive care. Evidence-based, culturally relevant sexual health education programming is largely unavailable in the state. There is a need for accessible, effective and scalable sexual health and sexual healthcare access (SHCA) interventions for YLW. The Virtual Promotoras Program (VIP) seeks to address this need. The VIP will create a virtual “safe space” for YLW to learn about sexual health and SHCA so that they can become empowered to effectively care for their sexual health and engage with the healthcare system. This in turn, can help them achieve improved health outcomes (i.e., lowered unplanned pregnancy and STI rates). Over the last 6 years, we have conducted extensive formative work with active engagement of the Latino/a/x community, guided by Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR). This study is the next natural step in this research. The VIP mHealth tool (mobile enabled website which will look and feel like a mobile application but can be accessed from other devices) will be a virtual “safe space” where YLW can: learn about sexual health and SHCA (educational modules); connect with “virtual promotoras” who can provide guidance and advice on how to navigate the healthcare system; and create a sexual health plan (i.e., a goal setting and patient/provider communication tool). To our knowledge no other researchers in the US South are working with YLW to adapt evidence-based health education and peer navigator model to an electronic format with the aim of empowering YLW to care for their sexual health, increasing sexual healthcare access and utilization and decreasing sexual health disparities. The specific aims of this study are: (1) Develop and examine the feasibility of a theory-based, culturally relevant sexual healthcare access intervention for young Latina women; and (2) Estimate the parameters required to size a group randomized trial for the evaluation of efficacy of the VIP program. The proposed CBPR study would also create new opportunities for UA students to become involved in behavioral science research and for UA to grow our research enterprise. This work is consistent with the National Institute of Nursing Research’s goals of “Enhancing wellness by understanding the physical, behavioral, cultural and environmental influences on health status and developing culturally tailored interventions to prevent illness and promote health” and “Using innovative technologies to develop novel interventions that deliver personalized care and real-time health information to patients, families and healthcare providers”.