Description:

Dr. Psihogios will share digital health research focused on promoting oral chemotherapy adherence among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. She will discuss the application of community-engaged research approaches in the digital health design and research process. Dr. Psihogios will review how AYA input and community partnerships shaped two emerging digital interventions. The first intervention is an app-based, just-in-time adaptive mobile intervention called “ADAPTS”. It uses inputs from daily surveys and sensors to tailor daily oral chemotherapy adherence messages. The second intervention aims to deliver adherence support within an information ecosystem that AYAs already use for cancer—social media. This intervention is called the “AYA Oncology Self-Care Movement” or #AYAOSM. As part of this line of work, Dr. Psihogios collaborates closely with a Community Advisory Board of YA survivors who are “social media influencers” to develop engaging cancer messages with broad reach. She will share preliminary results from a pilot study testing this social media-enabled intervention and discuss how her team plans to generalize this partnership to address other disparities that AYAs face (e.g., unmet mental health needs, low survivorship care utilization). 

Guest:
Alexandra (Alex) Psihogios, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Social Sciences
Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine