Leveraging Community Engagement to Develop a Mobile Health Application for Older Women With HIV Infection.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a mobile health app for older women with HIV infection that will be used in a larger study. DESIGN: A qualitative study design. SETTING: Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area clinics and communities. PARTICIPANTS: Ten women 50 years and older (mean age = 62.8 years, standard deviation = 3.62, range = 58-69 years) who self-identified as Black or African American and were infected with HIV. METHODS: At the start of the study, we used relevant empirical and the self-determination theory to inform the draft Web-based app content that was shared with two focus groups. Data were analyzed with input from a community advisory board (CAB) to inform the development of the mobile health app. RESULTS: We inductively identified eight subthemes within the coding structure of two overall themes: Navigating Content, Functions, and Features and Enhancing Provider Interaction With Patients that represented the perspectives of participants regarding the app. From the eight subthemes, we integrated the contributions from the CAB, which we then used to further optimize the app. CONCLUSION: The app was designed to provide support, tools, and resources for older women with HIV. Engagement of community collaborators could be challenging because of multiple personal and structural barriers. Nonetheless, the potential community member benefits are invaluable. If successful, the Web-based app could be a model to address the needs of older persons with HIV infection.

A multicentre study to determine the efficacy and patient acceptability of the Paxman Scalp Cooler to prevent hair loss in patients receiving chemotherapy.

Alopecia is a distressing and common side-effect of chemotherapy, especially anthracycline- and taxane-containing regimen. A series of studies and reviews have considered scalp cooling as a means of reducing this side-effect without a definitive result. The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy and patient acceptability of scalp cooling using the Paxman Scalp Cooler. This was an open, non-randomised, observational study conducted at eight sites involving 94 patients. Alopecia was assessed using the World Health Organisation (WHO) grading system. Patient acceptability was assessed by questionnaire. Results were compiled by Scalp Cooling Assessment Groups using data from eight centres in the UK collected between 1997 and 2000. Use of the Paxman Scalp Cooler was adjudged a success for 89% of all patients using the WHO grading system for alopecia and for 87% of patients being specifically administered the commonly used 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (FEC) regimen. When asked about degrees of comfort during the scalp-cooling process, 85% of patients described it as very comfortable, reasonably comfortable or comfortable, with only 15% of patients reporting a description of uncomfortable or very uncomfortable. Scalp cooling using the Paxman Scalp Cooler was found to be an effective technique with minimal side-effects for patients treated with commonly prescribed alopecia-inducing chemotherapy drugs.