Posters
Academic Level (Author 1)
Medical Student
Discipline/Specialty (Author 1)
Orthopedic Surgery
Academic Level (Author 2)
Medical Student
Academic Level (Author 3)
Medical Student
Academic Level (Author 4)
Medical Student
Discipline Track
Clinical Science
Abstract
Introduction: HIV in the United States has affected all types of demographics and has been growing by 50,000 new infections each year. Healthy people 2030 states that their objectives of both reducing new HIV cases and increasing knowledge of the disease has had little to no change. We intend to decrease both short-term incidence of HIV contracture and long-term incidence of disease progression to AIDS via utilization of an electronic health messaging and outreach system.
Methods: Individuals will be registered for text alerts at their next AHEC medical appointment. The practitioner, utilizing an HIV Risk Assessment Tool would ask high-risk patients if they would like to register for monthly text-messages regarding general health education topics in the Rio Grande Valley. On the first day of every month, the participant will receive two messages (English and Spanish) regarding the importance of avoiding HIV-associated behaviors and attending monthly screenings. We would collect data on the number of new and existing HIV cases seen among all three AHEC locations at the end of six- and 12-months post-text message enrollment.
Results: Current estimates are that our study will increase peoples’ HIV screening attendance and decrease the prevalence of HIV in the Rio Grande Valley.
Conclusion: Overall, we believe that our project has the ability to mitigate a prominent health issue in our region. Furthermore, the data derived from this project will serve as a reasonable measure for evaluating HIV prevalence as well as risk-promoting behaviors in underserved populations.
Presentation Type
Poster
Recommended Citation
Martin, Blake; Marupudi, Smaran; Heckman, Justin; and Wiggins, Russell, "The Impact of Electronic Messaging on HIV in a Medically Underserved Population" (2024). Research Colloquium. 67.
https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/colloquium/2024/posters/67
The Impact of Electronic Messaging on HIV in a Medically Underserved Population
Introduction: HIV in the United States has affected all types of demographics and has been growing by 50,000 new infections each year. Healthy people 2030 states that their objectives of both reducing new HIV cases and increasing knowledge of the disease has had little to no change. We intend to decrease both short-term incidence of HIV contracture and long-term incidence of disease progression to AIDS via utilization of an electronic health messaging and outreach system.
Methods: Individuals will be registered for text alerts at their next AHEC medical appointment. The practitioner, utilizing an HIV Risk Assessment Tool would ask high-risk patients if they would like to register for monthly text-messages regarding general health education topics in the Rio Grande Valley. On the first day of every month, the participant will receive two messages (English and Spanish) regarding the importance of avoiding HIV-associated behaviors and attending monthly screenings. We would collect data on the number of new and existing HIV cases seen among all three AHEC locations at the end of six- and 12-months post-text message enrollment.
Results: Current estimates are that our study will increase peoples’ HIV screening attendance and decrease the prevalence of HIV in the Rio Grande Valley.
Conclusion: Overall, we believe that our project has the ability to mitigate a prominent health issue in our region. Furthermore, the data derived from this project will serve as a reasonable measure for evaluating HIV prevalence as well as risk-promoting behaviors in underserved populations.