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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Glob. Womens Health
Sec. Contraception and Family Planning
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2024.1401779
This article is part of the Research Topic Current Advances in Contraceptive Use, Technology, and Promotion View all 5 articles

Aya Contigo: Evaluation of a Digital Intervention to Support Self-managed Medication Abortion in Venezuela

Provisionally accepted
Kathryn Cleverley Kathryn Cleverley 1Anjali Sergeant Anjali Sergeant 2Nina Zamberlin Nina Zamberlin 3*Susana Medina-Salas Susana Medina-Salas 3*Genevieve Tam Genevieve Tam 4*Roopan Gill Roopan Gill 5*
  • 1 Department of Family Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
  • 2 Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • 3 Fós Feminista, New York, United States
  • 4 Other, Vancouver, Canada
  • 5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Venezuela continues to face a humanitarian crisis, where healthcare is difficult to access and abortion is legally restricted. In response to a growing need for life-saving abortion and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, a digital application called Aya Contigo was codeveloped with local partners to support self-managed medication abortion. We sought to evaluate this digital health tool among pregnant people seeking abortion in Venezuela. Methods: This is a mixed-methods pilot evaluation of Aya Contigo, a digital tool for pregnant people seeking abortion in Venezuela. From April to June of 2021, people in the first trimester of pregnancy were recruited via passive sampling. Once enrolled, participants accessed information and resources on the application and were supported by study team members over an encrypted chat. Following medication abortion, participants completed an online survey and a semi-structured interview. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the survey responses. Interviews were coded thematically and analyzed qualitatively with NVivo. Results: Forty participants seeking medication abortion in Venezuela were recruited to the study and given access to Aya Contigo. Seventeen completed the online survey (42.5%), with all participants identifying as women and a mean age of 28 (range 19-38; SD 5.55). Participants expressed confidence in Aya Contigo; 53% (9/17) felt 'very supported' and the remaining 47% (8/17) felt 'somewhat supported' by the app throughout the self-managed abortion process. The app was rated as highly usable, with an overall System Usability Scale score of 83.4/100. Thirteen respondents participated in a semi-structured phone interview, and qualitative analysis identified key themes relating to the experience of seeking abortion in Venezuela, the user experience with Aya Contigo, and the app's role in the existing ecosystem of abortion and contraceptive care in Venezuela. Discussion: This mixed-methods pilot study demonstrates that the Aya Contigo mobile application may support pregnant people seeking medication abortion and post-abortion contraceptive services in Venezuela. Participants valued the provision of evidence-based information, virtual accompaniment services, and locally-available sexual and reproductive health resources via the digital tool. Further research and interventions are needed to ensure that all pregnant people in Venezuela can access safe abortion and contraceptive resources.

    Keywords: Medication abortion, Contraception, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), global women's health, Digital Health, Human-centered design

    Received: 15 Mar 2024; Accepted: 27 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cleverley, Sergeant, Zamberlin, Medina-Salas, Tam and Gill. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Nina Zamberlin, Fós Feminista, New York, United States
    Susana Medina-Salas, Fós Feminista, New York, United States
    Genevieve Tam, Other, Vancouver, Canada
    Roopan Gill, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 1A1, Ontario, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.