COVID-19 Preventive Behavior in African Americans

The Center Disease Control has published a set of guidelines to contain the spread of the virus, since it is known to spread from person-to-person. Given the vaccine and specific antiviral treatment for Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) remain under development and will take months or years to develop, intermittent and sustained preventive behaviors may be needed into 2022 unless effective treatments or vaccines are developed. Thus, effectively implementing preventive behaviors remains a critical step in bringing the pandemic under long-term control. Leveraging the ecological momentary assessment (EMA) method developed in the parent R01 for smartphones, which allows for real-time data collection on individual's behaviors, the investigators propose a prospective single arm and longitudinal study to examine the effectiveness of self-monitoring EMA (SM-EMA) in promoting adherence to COVID-19 preventative behaviors. SM-EMA users will download the smartphone app which includes: (1) instructional videos to provide knowledge of preventative behaviors; (2) self-monitoring of preventative behaviors during intervention and follow-up phases; (3) tailored-feedback messages to encourage preventative behaviors; and (4) mobile-enabled website to provide an interactive learning platform. If proven efficacious, this intervention could be efficiently disseminated to reach the larger public and foster preventive behaviors into self-management as effective strategies for long-term control of the COVID-19 pandemic.