CHARACTERIZATION OF MHEALTH USERS AND ACCESS TO TREATMENT BY TEENAGERS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS IN ISLAND COMMUNITIES OF LAKE VICTORIA, KENYA

Abstract

The emergence of mHealth as an alternative access point for care and treatment is lauded by
development agencies as ingenious innovation for bridging health care access for teenagers
living with HIV/AIDS among detached communities like the islands of Lake Victoria. It is also
presumed that mHealth transcends beyond teenagers‟ concerns with location and unfriendly
hours of operation of health facilities. The mHealth is alleged to increase privacy and
confidentiality, reduce cost of service delivery, and loops over retrogressive cultural beliefs
and attitudes exhibited by health care providers and caregivers, consequently increasing access
to health information, care and treatment. Specifically, the study sought to establish the
Characterization of mHealth users that facilitate access to treatment by teenagers living with
HIV from the island communities of Lake Victoria and its effect on treatment access. To
support this study, the study was anchored to Health Belief Model. This was anchored to the
cross-sectional study design, stratified sampling identified the psychosocial support groups of
teenagers living with HIV. Probit Model was applied to the study. With a study population of
approximately 409 in Ringiti, Remba, Rusinga, Mfangano and Mageta islands, questionnaires
were administered to the 173 sampled teenagers living with HIV as unit of analysis, and a
control group made up of 30 percent of the sample ascertained effect of characterization of
mHealth users on treatment access. Five focus group discussions and key informant interviews
of 10 and 3 were held in each Island. The study adopted multiple linear regression analysis to
determine the relationship between the Characterization of mHealth users and utilization of
information by teenagers living with HIV/AIDS in Island Communities of Lake Victoria,
Kenya. The study results revealed that characterization of mhealth users had a significant
effect on access to treatment by teenagers living with HIV/AIDS in Island communities of
Lake Victoria. Consequently, this study provides organizations promoting access to treatment
by teenagers living with HIV/AIDS through characterization of mHealth Users.
The study recommended that government and organizations involved in HIV/AIDS related
activities should adopt a culture of enhancing community-based health support systems. This
could go a long way in ensuring there is improved access to treatment by teenagers living with
HIV/AIDS in Island communities of Lake Victoria.