The Use of Technology to Advance HIV Prevention for Couples

The majority of HIV prevention studies and programs have targeted individuals or operated at the community level. This has also been the standard approach when incorporating technology (e.g., web-based, smartphones) to help improve HIV prevention efforts. The tides have turned for both approaches: greater attention is now focusing on couple-based HIV prevention and using technology to help improve these efforts for maximizing reach and potential impact. To assess the extent that technology has been used to help advance HIV prevention with couples, a literature review was conducted using four databases and included studies that collected data from 2000 to early 2015. Results from this review suggest that technology has primarily been used to help advance HIV prevention with couples as a tool for (1) recruitment and data collection and (2) intervention development. Challenges and limitations of conducting research (e.g., validity of dyadic data) along with future directions for how technology (e.g., mHealth, wearable sensors) can be used to advance HIV prevention with couples are then discussed. Given the growing and near ubiquitous use of the Internet and smartphones, further efforts in the realm of mHealth (e.g., applications or "apps") and eHealth are needed to develop novel couple-focused HIV-preventive interventions.