Browsing by Author "Burns, Bridget"

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    The importance of how research participants think they are perceived: results from an electronic monitoring study of antiretroviral therapy in Uganda
    (AIDS Care, 2018) Campbell, Jeffrey I.; Musiimenta, Angella; Burns, Bridget; Natukunda, Sylvia; Musinguzi, Nicholas; Haberer, Jessica E.; Eyal, Nir
    Novel monitoring technologies in HIV research, such as electronic adherence monitors (EAMs), have changed the nature of researcher-participant interactions. Yet little is known about how EAMs and the resulting interaction between researchers and participants affect research participation and the data gathered. We interviewed participants and research assistants (RAs) in an observational cohort study involving EAMs for HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Uganda. We qualitatively explored interviewees’ views about ethical issues surrounding EAMs and assessed data with conventional and directed content analysis. Participants valued their relationships with RAs and were preoccupied with RAs’ perceptions of them. Participants were pleased when the EAM revealed regular adherence, and annoyed when it revealed non-adherence that contradicted self-reported pill-taking behavior. For many, the desire to maintain a good impression incentivized adherence. But some sought to creatively conceal non-adherence, or refused to use the EAM to avoid revealing non-adherence to RAs. These findings show that participants’ perceptions of the study staff’s perceptions of them affected the experience of being monitored, study participation, and ultimately the data gathered in the study. Investigators in monitoring-based research should be aware that social interactions between participants and study staff could affect both the practical and ethical conduct of that research.
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    The Technology Acceptance Model for Resource-Limited Settings (TAM-RLS): A Novel Framework for Mobile Health Interventions Targeted to Low-Literacy End-Users in Resource-Limited Settings
    (AIDS and Behavior, 2017) Campbell, Jeffrey I.; Aturinda, Isaac; Mwesigwa, Evans; Burns, Bridget; Santorino, Data; Haberer, Jessica E.; Bangsberg, David R.; Holden, Richard J.; Ware, Norma C.; Siedner, Mark J.
    Although mobile health (mHealth) technologies have shown promise in improving clinical care in resource limited settings (RLS), they are infrequently brought to scale. One limitation to the success of many mHealth interventions is inattention to end-user acceptability, which is an important predictor of technology adoption. We conducted in-depth interviews with 43 people living with HIV in rural Uganda who had participated in a clinical trial of a short messaging system (SMS)-based intervention designed to prompt return to clinic after an abnormal laboratory test. Interviews focused on established features of technology acceptance models, including perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and included open-ended questions to gain insight into unexplored issues related to the intervention’s acceptability. We used conventional (inductive) and direct content analysis to derive categories describing use behaviors and acceptability.
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    Ugandan Study Participants Experience Electronic Monitoring of Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence as Welcomed Pressure to Adhere
    (AIDS and Behavior, 2018) Campbell, Jeffrey I.; Eyal, Nir; Musiimenta, · Angella; Burns, Bridget; Natukunda, Sylvia; Musinguzi, Nicholas; Haberer, Jessica E.
    Many new technologies monitor patients’ and study participants’ medical adherence. Some have cautioned that these devices transgress personal autonomy and ethics. But do they? This qualitative study explored how Ugandan study participants perceive the effect of electronic monitoring of their adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) on their freedoms to be nonadherent and pursue other activities that monitoring may inadvertently expose. Between August 2014 and June 2015, we interviewed 60 Ugandans living with HIV and enrolled in the Uganda AIDS Rural Treatment Outcomes (UARTO) study, a longitudinal, observational study involving electronic adherence monitors (EAMs) to assess ART adherence. We also interviewed 6 UARTO research assistants. Both direct and indirect content analysis were used to interpret interview transcripts. We found that monitoring created a sense of pressure to adhere to ART, which some participants described as “forcing” them to adhere. However, even participants who felt that monitoring forced them to take medications perceived using the EAM as conducive to their fundamental goal of high ART adherence. Overall, even if monitoring may have limited participants’ effective freedom to be non-adherent, participants welcomed any such effect. No participant rejected the EAM on the grounds that it would limit that effective freedom. Reports that monitoring altered behaviors unrelated to pill-taking were rare. Researchers should continue to be vigilant about the ways in which behavioral health monitoring affects autonomy, but should also recognize that even autonomy-limiting monitoring strategies may enable participants to achieve their own goals.