ABC Hongos: Mobile Health in Action

Abstract

The report of community-acquired fungal infections in the world are increasing due to multiple factors such as environmental disruptions caused by climate change; the migratory phenomenon; widely use of antifungal agents in the agriculture and advanced healthcare to underlying medical conditions that
could be predispose to mycoses1. In Colombia, deficits in the healthcare system; the multidimensional poverty and inequities between the rural and urban populations must also be consider. The preventive health behaviors are a central approach to decrease the impact of fungal infections, for which we set the following Objective: This study aims co-create a mobile application to health literacy about mycoses and drug resistance with patients of the Instituto de Salud de Bucaramanga (ISABU). According to the participatory action research approach, the study is being developed by cycles, as follows: a) Diagnosis: A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) survey were conducted at baseline among 385 ISABU users to identify what is known and done about fungal infections and drug resistance b) Co-design of the app content: Generative prototypes were built based on the health literacy needs identified from KAP. These tools will serve as a common ground for connecting ideas, experiences and knowledge of people during ludic co-creation sessions, in which participants built, play and transform their ideas through dialogue with others in order to identify transmission routes and risk factors to mycoses, as well as preventive measures. These technique favors knowledge integration between researchers and social actors to create the mobile app content according to community codes and referents. c) Health literacy: Once the smartphone app has been completed and release, it will be freely available among a group of ISABU patients, who will use it during two months. The KAP survey will be conducted after volunteers complete the intervention to assess the level of proficiency achieved by users. Descriptive statistics techniques, Pearson Chi-square and Paired-Samples t-test will be used to analyze the results. Improve ISABU users´ level of knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding fungal infections and selfmedication leading to reduce the prevalence of mycoses and antimicrobial resistance, in the medium and long-term.