Perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx Community Members on AI-Enabled mHealth Tools: Qualitative Focus Group Study
BackgroundMobile health (mHealth) tools have the potential to reduce the burden of chronic conditions that disproportionately affect Hispanic and Latinx communities; however, digital divides in the access to and use of health technology suggest that mHealth has the potential...
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JMIR Publications
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2025/1/e59817 |
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| author | Stephanie A Kraft Shaan Chopra Miriana C Duran Janet A Rojina Abril Beretta Katherine I López Russell Javan Benjamin S Wilfond Margaret Rosenfeld James Fogarty Linda K Ko |
| author_facet | Stephanie A Kraft Shaan Chopra Miriana C Duran Janet A Rojina Abril Beretta Katherine I López Russell Javan Benjamin S Wilfond Margaret Rosenfeld James Fogarty Linda K Ko |
| author_sort | Stephanie A Kraft |
| collection | DOAJ |
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BackgroundMobile health (mHealth) tools have the potential to reduce the burden of chronic conditions that disproportionately affect Hispanic and Latinx communities; however, digital divides in the access to and use of health technology suggest that mHealth has the potential to exacerbate, rather than reduce, these disparities.
ObjectiveA key step toward developing health technology that is accessible and usable is to understand community member perspectives and needs so that technology is culturally relevant and appropriately contextualized. In this study, we aimed to examine the perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx community members in Washington State about mHealth.
MethodsWe recruited English- and Spanish-speaking Hispanic or Latinx adults to participate in web-based focus groups through existing community-based networks across rural and urban regions of Washington State. Focus groups included a presentation of narrative slideshow materials developed by the research team depicting mHealth use case examples of asthma in children and fall risk in older adults. Focus group questions asked participants to respond to the case examples and to further explore mHealth use preferences, benefits, barriers, and concerns. Focus group recordings were professionally transcribed, and Spanish transcripts were translated into English. We developed a qualitative codebook using deductive and inductive methods and then coded deidentified transcripts using the constant comparison method. The analysis team proposed themes based on review of coded data, which were validated through member checking with a community advisory board serving Latino individuals in the region and finalized through discussion with the entire research team.
ResultsBetween May and September 2023, we conducted 8 focus groups in English or Spanish with 48 participants. Focus groups were stratified by language and region and included the following: 3 (n=18, 38% participants) Spanish urban groups, 2 (n=14, 29% participants) Spanish rural groups, 1 (n=6, 13% participants) English urban group, and 2 (n=10, 21% participants) English rural groups. We identified the following seven themes: (1) mHealth is seen as beneficial for promoting health and peace of mind; (2) some are unaware of, unfamiliar with, or uncomfortable with technology and may benefit from individualized support; (3) financial barriers limit access to mHealth; (4) practical considerations create barriers to using mHealth in daily life; (5) mHealth raises concern for overreliance on technology; (6) automated mHealth features are perceived as valuable but fallible, requiring human input to ensure accuracy; and (7) data sharing is seen as valuable for limited uses but raises privacy concerns. These themes illustrate key barriers to the benefits of mHealth that communities may face, provide insights into the role of mHealth within families, and examine the appropriate balance of data sharing and privacy protections.
ConclusionsThese findings offer important insights that can help advance the development of mHealth that responds to community values and priorities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8a81057fb0ab4165923d08694987134a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
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| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-8a81057fb0ab4165923d08694987134a2025-02-06T13:00:34ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712025-02-0127e5981710.2196/59817Perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx Community Members on AI-Enabled mHealth Tools: Qualitative Focus Group StudyStephanie A Krafthttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2862-7601Shaan Choprahttps://orcid.org/0009-0002-6471-1031Miriana C Duranhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2027-1070Janet A Rojinahttps://orcid.org/0009-0005-2277-6090Abril Berettahttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-9067-9107Katherine I Lópezhttps://orcid.org/0009-0005-6749-1523Russell Javanhttps://orcid.org/0009-0009-7837-4559Benjamin S Wilfondhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2671-9860Margaret Rosenfeldhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8105-614XJames Fogartyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9194-934XLinda K Kohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1090-6637 BackgroundMobile health (mHealth) tools have the potential to reduce the burden of chronic conditions that disproportionately affect Hispanic and Latinx communities; however, digital divides in the access to and use of health technology suggest that mHealth has the potential to exacerbate, rather than reduce, these disparities. ObjectiveA key step toward developing health technology that is accessible and usable is to understand community member perspectives and needs so that technology is culturally relevant and appropriately contextualized. In this study, we aimed to examine the perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx community members in Washington State about mHealth. MethodsWe recruited English- and Spanish-speaking Hispanic or Latinx adults to participate in web-based focus groups through existing community-based networks across rural and urban regions of Washington State. Focus groups included a presentation of narrative slideshow materials developed by the research team depicting mHealth use case examples of asthma in children and fall risk in older adults. Focus group questions asked participants to respond to the case examples and to further explore mHealth use preferences, benefits, barriers, and concerns. Focus group recordings were professionally transcribed, and Spanish transcripts were translated into English. We developed a qualitative codebook using deductive and inductive methods and then coded deidentified transcripts using the constant comparison method. The analysis team proposed themes based on review of coded data, which were validated through member checking with a community advisory board serving Latino individuals in the region and finalized through discussion with the entire research team. ResultsBetween May and September 2023, we conducted 8 focus groups in English or Spanish with 48 participants. Focus groups were stratified by language and region and included the following: 3 (n=18, 38% participants) Spanish urban groups, 2 (n=14, 29% participants) Spanish rural groups, 1 (n=6, 13% participants) English urban group, and 2 (n=10, 21% participants) English rural groups. We identified the following seven themes: (1) mHealth is seen as beneficial for promoting health and peace of mind; (2) some are unaware of, unfamiliar with, or uncomfortable with technology and may benefit from individualized support; (3) financial barriers limit access to mHealth; (4) practical considerations create barriers to using mHealth in daily life; (5) mHealth raises concern for overreliance on technology; (6) automated mHealth features are perceived as valuable but fallible, requiring human input to ensure accuracy; and (7) data sharing is seen as valuable for limited uses but raises privacy concerns. These themes illustrate key barriers to the benefits of mHealth that communities may face, provide insights into the role of mHealth within families, and examine the appropriate balance of data sharing and privacy protections. ConclusionsThese findings offer important insights that can help advance the development of mHealth that responds to community values and priorities.https://www.jmir.org/2025/1/e59817 |
| spellingShingle | Stephanie A Kraft Shaan Chopra Miriana C Duran Janet A Rojina Abril Beretta Katherine I López Russell Javan Benjamin S Wilfond Margaret Rosenfeld James Fogarty Linda K Ko Perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx Community Members on AI-Enabled mHealth Tools: Qualitative Focus Group Study Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | Perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx Community Members on AI-Enabled mHealth Tools: Qualitative Focus Group Study |
| title_full | Perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx Community Members on AI-Enabled mHealth Tools: Qualitative Focus Group Study |
| title_fullStr | Perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx Community Members on AI-Enabled mHealth Tools: Qualitative Focus Group Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx Community Members on AI-Enabled mHealth Tools: Qualitative Focus Group Study |
| title_short | Perspectives of Hispanic and Latinx Community Members on AI-Enabled mHealth Tools: Qualitative Focus Group Study |
| title_sort | perspectives of hispanic and latinx community members on ai enabled mhealth tools qualitative focus group study |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2025/1/e59817 |
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