Addressing the Behavioral Health Needs of Sexual and Gender Minorities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Review of the Expanding Role of Digital Health Technologies

Whaibeh, Emile; Vogt, Emily L.; Mahmoud, Hossam

doi:10.1007/s11920-022-01352-1

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 48 publications

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“…Some public health efforts for screening and tracking COVID-19, such as mobile health (mHealth), which includes the use of smartphones and related digital technologies to assess or address health, and other digital health tools (eg, patient portals and web-based patient questionnaires), have previously proven effective, acceptable, and feasible for HIV prevention for sexual minority men [18][19][20][21]. Generally, research shows that digital technologies such as mHealth applications improve the feasibility of delivering health care to sexual minority patients [22]. Additionally, studies indicate that tracking mental and physical health-related information through mHealth applications was associated with better mental health status for sexual minority people to a greater extent during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic [23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Willingness to Use Digital Health Screening and Tracking Tools for Public Health in Sexual Minority Populations in a National Probability Sample: Quantitative Intersectional Analysis

Vincent

2024

J Med Internet Res

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Background Little is known about sexual minority adults’ willingness to use digital health tools, such as pandemic-related tools for screening and tracking, outside of HIV prevention and intervention efforts for sexual minority men, specifically. Additionally, given the current cultural climate in the United States, heterosexual and sexual minority adults may differ in their willingness to use digital health tools, and there may be within-group differences among sexual minority adults. Objective This study compared sexual minority and heterosexual adults’ willingness to use COVID-19–related digital health tools for public health screening and tracking and tested whether sexual minority adults differed from each other by age group, gender, and race or ethnicity. Methods We analyzed data from a cross-sectional, national probability survey (n=2047) implemented from May 30 to June 8, 2020, in the United States during the height of the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using latent-variable modeling, heterosexual and sexual minority adults were tested for differences in their willingness to use digital health tools for public health screening and tracking. Among sexual minority adults, specifically, associations with age, gender, and race or ethnicity were assessed. Results On average, sexual minority adults showed greater willingness to use digital health tools for screening and tracking than heterosexual adults (latent factor mean difference 0.46, 95% CI 0.15-0.77). Among sexual minority adults, there were no differences by age group, gender, or race or ethnicity. However, African American (b=0.41, 95% CI 0.19-0.62), Hispanic or Latino (b=0.36, 95% CI 0.18-0.55), and other racial or ethnic minority (b=0.54, 95% CI 0.31-0.77) heterosexual adults showed greater willingness to use digital health tools for screening and tracking than White heterosexual adults. Conclusions In the United States, sexual minority adults were more willing to use digital health tools for screening and tracking than heterosexual adults. Sexual minority adults did not differ from each other by age, gender, or race or ethnicity in terms of their willingness to use these digital health tools, so no sexual orientation-based or intersectional disparities were identified. Furthermore, White heterosexual adults were less willing to use these tools than racial or ethnic minority heterosexual adults. Findings support the use of digital health tools with sexual minority adults, which could be important for other public health-related concerns (eg, the recent example of mpox). Additional studies are needed regarding the decision-making process of White heterosexual adults regarding the use of digital health tools to address public health crises, including pandemics or outbreaks that disproportionately affect minoritized populations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Willingness to Use Digital Health Screening and Tracking Tools for Public Health in Sexual Minority Populations in a National Probability Sample: Quantitative Intersectional Analysis

Vincent

2024

J Med Internet Res

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Presenting a Framework for Telebehavioral Health Implementation

Mahmoud,

Naal,

Mitchell

et al. 2023

Curr Psychiatry Rep

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Considerations and recommendations for mHealth interventions for substance use among Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) individuals: A narrative review of the past 5 years

et al. 2023

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Purposeof Review The prevalence of problematic substance use is disproportionately higher among sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults compared to adults in the general population. mHealth as a treatment modality could reduce barriers to accessing substance use treatments among SGM populations. Through a qualitative literature search, the current narrative review aimed to understand the lived experiences of SGM individuals who use substances and to synthesize recommendations made in the literature to inform future mHealth interventions. Recent Findings Positive and negative reinforcement motives were prominent reasons for substance use, which included SGM identity expression and conformity motives. Individual- and system-level treatment barriers included a lack of safe and nonjudgmental environment, shame and stigma, and limited knowledge about treatment options. Barriers were directly linked to the reported substance use treatment needs in this population. Summary On-demand app features, real-time intervention and assessment, and anonymity should be considered in future mHealth trials. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40429-023-00497-0.

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Addressing the Behavioral Health Needs of Sexual and Gender Minorities During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Review of the Expanding Role of Digital Health Technologies

Cited by 5 publications

References 48 publications

Willingness to Use Digital Health Screening and Tracking Tools for Public Health in Sexual Minority Populations in a National Probability Sample: Quantitative Intersectional Analysis

Willingness to Use Digital Health Screening and Tracking Tools for Public Health in Sexual Minority Populations in a National Probability Sample: Quantitative Intersectional Analysis

Presenting a Framework for Telebehavioral Health Implementation

Considerations and recommendations for mHealth interventions for substance use among Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) individuals: A narrative review of the past 5 years

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