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Social Support in a Virtual Community: Analysis of a Clinic-Affiliated Online Support Group for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS

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Abstract

Social support can improve outcomes for people living with HIV (PLWH) and could be provided through online support groups. The Positive Links smartphone app is a multicomponent intervention that allows users to interact in a clinic-affiliated anonymous online support group. We investigated how social support was exchanged in a group of 55 participants over 8 months, using an adaptation of the Social Support Behavior Code. Participant interviews assessed their experiences and perceptions of the app. Of 840 posts analyzed, 115 (14 %) were coded as eliciting social support and 433 (52 %) as providing social support. Messages providing support were predominantly emotional (41 %), followed by network (27 %), esteem (24 %), informational (18 %), and instrumental (2 %) support. Participants perceived connection and support as key benefits of the app. Technical issues and interpersonal barriers limited some participants in fully using the app. Mobile technology offers a useful tool to reach populations with barriers to in-person support and may improve care for PLWH.

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Funding

This project was supported by the M.A.C.AIDS Fund and AIDS United. These sponsors had no role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. There is no associated grant number.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Tabor E. Flickinger, Claire DeBolt, Ava Lena Waldman, Wendy F. Cohn & Rebecca Dillingham

  2. Health Decision Technologies, Oakland, CA, USA

    George Reynolds

  3. Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Mary Catherine Beach

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Karen Ingersoll

  5. UVA Center for Global Health, P.O. Box 801379, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA

    Rebecca Dillingham

Authors
  1. Tabor E. Flickinger
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  2. Claire DeBolt
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  3. Ava Lena Waldman
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  4. George Reynolds
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  5. Wendy F. Cohn
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  6. Mary Catherine Beach
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  7. Karen Ingersoll
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  8. Rebecca Dillingham
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Correspondence to Rebecca Dillingham.

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None of the authors declare any conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study that involved human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All participants in this study provided informed consent prior to entering the study.

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Flickinger, T.E., DeBolt, C., Waldman, A.L. et al. Social Support in a Virtual Community: Analysis of a Clinic-Affiliated Online Support Group for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS Behav 21, 3087–3099 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-016-1587-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-016-1587-3

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