Zoom & WhatsApp Digital Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Enhance Community Engaged Research with Women Immigrants from Mexico.

This article demonstrates how digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) (Zoom/WhatsApp) unexpectedly and counterintuitively proved to be valuable tools for community-engaged health research when, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were integrated into a research study testing a peer support group intervention with female immigrants from Mexico. Because of pandemic restrictions, we changed the study protocol to hold meetings remotely via Zoom rather than in person as originally planned. Because we recognized that this would lack some opportunities for participants to interact and develop relationships, we created a WhatsApp chat for each group. Despite challenges for participants to use ICTs and participant-stated preference for in-person meetings, the results demonstrated that participants overwhelmingly endorsed these technologies as promoting access, participation, engagement, and satisfaction. Zoom/WhatsApp created a valuable environment both as a method for conducting research with this population, but also as part of the intervention for immigrant women to support and learn from each other. ICT adaptations have now permanently changed the way we conduct community-engaged health research.

Our voices, our lives: Unforeseen stories after the violence and opening the door to becoming whole again.

We are a group of 11 women in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Nine of us are immigrants from Mexico. One of us is from an immigrant household. One of us is neither. We have been working collaboratively on a research study called Tertulias (Spanish for "a social gathering"), which is an innovative women's peer support group approach we created to reduce social isolation, depression, and stress among women immigrants from Mexico, and to increase their resilience and sense of empowerment. In the process of implementing the Tertulias study, we are revealing the profound power of peer support, friendship, and small, quotidian kindnesses. But we are also exposing the immensity and scope of trauma, fear, loneliness, depression, and self-blame that exist in the Mexican immigrant community because of domestic violence. Our experience with domestic violence and with the consciousness-raising and support we found in Tertulias has made us want to be involved in a positive manner to do something about this issue in our community. We want our experience to mean something-to be used to make a difference. We are opening our hearts and sharing our stories and ideas. We wanted to be included as co-authors of this article because we want our stories to be received and heard by other women. We want to plant seeds to help other women find their inner strength to be able to escape from their chains. We have to return for others. It is a commitment-to understand how we were able to do it and share that with others. Through our experience participating in Tertulias, we learned that we could overcome what felt overwhelming and impenetrable. We could leave the violence and rediscover and recreate ourselves and our lives.

A Study of a Culturally and Contextually Situated Multimedia Approach to Recruit a Hard-to-Reach Spanish-Speaking Population for a Randomized Control Trial (RCT).

Study designs involving randomization can be difficult to communicate to participants, especially those with low literacy. The literature on strategies to explain research concepts is limited, especially for non-English speakers. We measured the effectiveness of a culturally and contextually situated multimedia approach to recruit a cohort of 60 female Mexican immigrants (FMI) to a randomized control trial (RCT) to reduce social isolation and depression. This strategy was designed to explain the concept of randomization, explain what participating in the research study entailed, and ensure informed consent. Potential participants viewed a presentation explaining the study and a video including animation with voice-over explaining the concept of randomization. We administered a pre/post survey. Respondents (N = 59) reported an increase in their understanding of randomization, intention to enroll, and attitude towards participating in research. We conclude that a culturally and contextually situated multimedia approach is an effective model when recruiting underrepresented populations with low literacy for RCTs.