Amp is a mobile app designed to improve HIV care continuum outcomes and overall well-being for people living with HIV. With funding from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health, we used human-centered design to co-create Amp with people living with HIV and providers from HIV service organizations across the country.
We intentionally designed Amp to be used by clients individually and to be integrated into the workflow of HIV service organizations to improve care continuum outcomes and client well-being. Amp has tools that organizations can use to support their clients as they use the app.
Interested in Amp for your Organization?
We are looking for HIV service organizations and other collaborators to use Amp with their clients. Amp can be used by organizations for free or can be customized with organizational branding, videos of your staff, information about your organization, and custom resources and tools. For more information, please contact us.
Amp addresses the multiple challenges that lead to sub-optimal engagement in care, treatment initiation, adherence, retention, and viral suppression outcomes. These include the emotional response to testing HIV positive, HIV stigma, lack of social support, mental health issues, and substance use, among others. Amp takes a whole-person approach to improving well-being, mental health, and physical health. It increases self-efficacy related to treatment, and offers needed information and tools to help people stay healthy and engaged in care, regardless of how long they have been HIV positive. The program also provides multiple ways for people living with HIV to connect with, learn from, and support one another.
Amp is free for anyone to use, including for HIV service organizations to use with their clients. In addition, branded versions of Amp can be developed to promote an organization’s services, which can include custom content, local resources, and videos about the organization and staff.
Research and Randomized Controlled Trial
There are few evidence-based, user-centered, mobile health interventions to support HIV care engagement for people living with HIV. Other than Amp, none of the existing programs include all of the holistic health and wellness features that people living with HIV want. Our formative research has demonstrated that Amp has high usability, satisfaction, and intention to use among people living with HIV and service providers.
Sentient Research is currently conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the effectiveness of Amp on improving HIV care continuum outcomes specifically among young Black gay and bisexual men. This study will include 300 participants from multiple study sites across the U.S. that offer HIV testing and treatment. The intervention group will use Amp for 5 months, with outcomes compared to a control group not using Amp. HIV care continuum, quality of life, HIV stigma, and mental health outcomes will be compared between the groups.
