Symptom or Sentiment?: Considerations for mHealth Interventions Designed for HIV+ Adolescents

Abstract

It is well documented that adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV, 10 -- 19 years) face numerous barriers that are associated with poor adherence to clinical visits and medications. These are exacerbated in resource poor settings where transport costs often limit face-to-face clinical interactions. Despite marked poverty in many regions of South Africa, there has been a significant rise in the number of households that report cell phone ownership, with smartphones showing strong market preference in recent years. In the face of AIDS-related mortality that disproportionately affects ALHIV, an interactive and purely visual mHealth application may provide a novel pathway to promote continuity of care among young people. This early stage research investigates the potential to leverage technology to mitigate some of the extant challenges experienced by HIV+ adolescents in South Africa. This phase of the study focuses on the application's reliability when used to collect and interpret self-reported data. Differentiating between symptom and sentiment is key, as adolescence is a period during which experiential interpretations are particularly confounding.