Developing Educational Animations on HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for Women: Qualitative Study

Background: Despite experiencing the second-highest rate of HIV incidence in the United States, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use remains low among Black women due, in part, to a lack of patients' awareness and providers' knowledge. Objective: Our goal was to design animated educational tools informed by patients and women's health providers to address these barriers, specifically for women at risk for HIV. Methods: Two animation storyboards about PrEP for women were created by academic stakeholders (eg, HIV clinical experts, educators, and HIV peer counselors), one for patients and one for providers. Four focus groups with community members from Baltimore, Maryland and four with women's health providers (eg, obstetrician/gynecologists, midwives, nurse practitioners, and peer counselors) at an academic center were conducted to discuss the storyboards. Transcripts were analyzed using conventional content analysis, and themes were incorporated into the final versions of the animations. Results: Academic stakeholders and 30 focus group participants (n=16 female community members and n=14 women's health providers) described important themes regarding PrEP. The themes most commonly discussed about the patient animation were understandability of side effects, HIV risk factors, messaging, PrEP access, and use confidence. Provider animation themes were indications for PrEP, side effects, and prescribing confidence. Conclusions: We created two PrEP animations focused on women. Stakeholder feedback highlighted the importance of ensuring the understandability and applicability of PrEP educational materials while including necessary information to facilitate use or prescribing confidence. Both community members and women's health providers reported greater use confidence after viewing the animations.