SENTIENT RESEARCH — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: 102

Description

PROJECT ABSTRACT This proposed Phase I SBIR project will result in development and testing of a prototype of Virtual Support SystemVSSa mobile healthmHealthvideo based system that provides support to young Black men who have sex with menYBMSMacross the entire HIV care continuumThere are currentlymillion people living with HIV in the United Statesand among MSM nationallyBlack MSM had the highest number of HIV diagnoses inEngagement in care is often thought of as a continuum includingHIV diagnosislinkage to careretention in careHIV antiretroviral therapyARTinitiationandviral suppressionand YBMSM experience severe disparities across the HIV care continuumcompared to both older Black MSM and young White and Latino MSMVSS addresses many challenges that lead to poor treatment initiationadherenceand retention outcomesIt takes a holistic approachtailored specifically for YBMSMto improve well being and mental health through providing video based supportinformation on demandand facilitating access to local resources within a simple to follow user interfaceWe hypothesize that VSScreated with intensive community collaborationwill optimize well being and health outcomes for YBMSM ageswho are living with HIVand reduce disparities along the HIV care continuum for this populationThis new intervention will enhance the ability of HIV service organizations nationwide to ensure optimal HIV care for YBMSM clientsas it can be easily integrated into their existing linkage and case management servicesSeveral HIV service organizations have expressed a need for VSS and will support the project as collaboratorsThere are three specific aims to our proposalAIMConduct qualitative researchincluding focus groups with YBMSM living with HIV and interviews with their service providers to inform the development of VSSAIMCreate prototypes for VSS using the formative research results from Aimand conduct prototype testing with YBMSM living with HIV and service providersAIMConduct prototype usability testing in an online survey of a largediverse sample of YBMSM living with HIV to maximize program utility and uptakeand refine the prototype as neededPhase I will involve formative researchthen developingtestingand refining a VSS product prototypeThismonth timeline is closely aligned with other fast pacedsuccessful projects that DrMontoya and the team at Sentient Research regularly plan and executeAfter building out the program and evaluating it using a randomized controlled trial in Phase IIVSS will ultimately have rapidwide scaleand sustainable impactBecause VSS is app basedit can be easily adapted and scaled up for organizations operating at the localregionalor national leveland can be used in a wide range of settingsThe program could also be used in resource limited and rural settingsareas for which mHealth approaches are promising PROJECT NARRATIVE The completion of Phase I activities will set the stage for Phase IIwhere we will fully build out and test our Virtual Support SystemVSSin a randomized controlled trialOur ultimate goal is to deploy VSS nationally to organizations that provide HIV testing and care servicesto achieve widespread and sustained impactreduce disparities in treatment initiationlinkageretention in careviral suppressionand increase overall health and wellness for young Black men who have sex with men