Development of a mobile personal health guide for HIV-infected African American MSM

Abstract

The study presented in this paper focuses on a relational, educational, and motivational virtual human (VH) mobile phone application for African American men who have sex with men (AAMSM). This project targets on increasing adherence to HIV medication and on improving the proportion of HIVinfected persons engaged in care by developing a theory-based mobile phone intervention that engages young HIV-positive AAMSM. The intervention is aimed to improve the likelihood of compliance with healthy behavior leading to both patient benefits (decreased morbidity, mortality and resistant virus) and population benefits (decreased HIV transmission). The VH encourages interaction with information and functions that promote engagement with the HIV Care Continuum, provide fundamental HIV information, present motivating statements, facilitate interaction with healthcare, visualize laboratory results, and encourage, explain, and illustrate relevant behavioral skills.