Reaction Paper

Part 1

The research article selected for this paper was titled, Acceptability of a Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention for HIV Prevention among Youth Experiencing Homelessness: A Qualitative Analysis. In this particular article, Acorda, Jones, and Maria (2021) seek to assess both the impact and acceptableness of interventions that embrace technology in efforts to attenuate or reduce the risks of contracting HIV among youths experiencing homelessness (YEH). More specifically, the authors seek to evaluate the acceptability and impacts of an app-based just-in-time adaptive intervention for HIV prevention from the YEH perspective.

The model used in the development of the intervention was the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) approach. The model has been used in diverse contexts in efforts to highlight or pinpoint behavioral change determinants. According to the authors of the present study, the model posits that individuals need relevant health information, motivation, and behavioral skills in order to initiate and maintain health behaviors. It would be prudent to note that the problem of homelessness happens to be rather significant, with 10% of young adults, as the authors of this article point out, being homeless. Some of the unique challenges experienced by homeless people specifically homeless youths relate to lack of access to quality health care, drug and substance abuse, as well as persistent/recurring mental health issues. Homeless persons also experience higher HIV rates. According to the authors, previous studies have indicated that in comparison to their housed counterparts, YEH report higher HIV rates with some studies reporting a rate as high as 16%. Owing to the aforementioned challenges of being homeless, YEH could be considered a population that is underserved. It therefore follows that there is an urgent need to deploy interventions meant to rein in the high HIV rate among this particular underserved population. To be effective, the intervention deployed ought to take into account the special circumstances of YEH. Some of the factors that could get in the way of the effective deployment of routine interventions, as the authors of the present article indicate, are inclusive of substance and drug abuse issues among YEH as well as their mobility and transience. Thus, these factors ought to be taken into account to ensure successful deployment of the various interventions. It is with this in mind that that the authors make an observation to the effect that the widespread use of smartphones in this population provides an opportunity to explore mobile HIV prevention strategies serving YEH.

The population that this particular study focuses on, as has been indicated elsewhere in this write-up, is youth experiencing homelessness (YEH). It should be noted that although no standard age bracket has been universally agreed upon, the United Nations typically considers persons aged between 15 and 24 years as youth. Participants in the present study were of ages 18 to 25.

In the present study, a qualitative, descriptive design was used by the authors in their efforts to comprehend YEH...

…method that could have been used in this case is the more specialized interpretative phenomenological analysis. This approach would have enabled the authors of the present study to better comprehend the study participants unique perspectives, i.e. via the use of bracketing which helps bar individual assumptions and biases.

Based on my knowledge, a small sample size does have some inherent limitations. A very small sample, such as the one used in the present research, does have the potential to increase the margin of error and could have a negative impact on both the external and internal validity of a study. Thus, I would select a larger sample size as this is likely to be a better representative of the population under consideration, i.e. youths experiencing homelessness (YEH). Next, I am also convinced that participants should not be offered an incentive that has the potential to trigger undue influence or get in the way of honest responses, insights, opinions, and reviews. The multilevel financial compensation offered to participants in the present study could, thus, be replaced with non-monetary compensation such as gifts and other merchandise (i.e. clothing, personal hygiene items like toothbrushes, etc.).

In the final analysis, the next steps of the research that I would pursue relate to the expansion of the sample size in a similar study. I would also seek to establish whether there are additional factors that could have had an impact on the experiences that YEHs had with the Motivating Youth to…