An Innovative, Community-based mHealth Approach to Reduce Health Disparities in Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Among Black Women

ABSTRACT Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes compared to white women and are disproportionately more likely to experience hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), a spectrum of diseases, including preeclampsia, that are among the leading causes of maternal death. Recent research suggests that a mix of social and cultural factors—beyond race—contribute to such a disparity. Accordingly, the current investigation aims to unpack the non-clinical, health information seeking (HIS) factors associated with Black women's HDP experiences throughout the perinatal journey. Research will commence through substantive, process-oriented partnerships (Taylor, 2020) between Black maternal patients and the medical research community to ensure more complete outcomes. To start, robust feedback will be gathered from Black women at risk of or managing HDP about their informational and communicative experiences. Guided by the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), this feedback will unearth the lived HIS experiences of Black women and identify HIS challenges and opportunities. Concurrently, suggestions will be requested for a mobile intervention that may prove useful in equipping Black women with the information and social support needed to make decisions related to HDP that benefit their health. Next, researchers will compile data gathered from CBPR-guided focus groups to develop an open-source Android app that will (tentatively) contain three primary features: (a) multimedia education modules focused on HDP with self-assessments of HDP knowledge, (b) self-monitoring of daily weight, BP, and exercise, and (c) a sharing board for social networking. The app then will be beta-t and pilot-tested to gauge its effectiveness at improving the information experiences among pregnant Black women with an identified risk of HDP as well as HDP survivors. The project is aimed at the ultimate goal of reducing non-clinical contributing factors to health disparities among Black women at risk of or with a history of HDP.