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. 2024;32(2):212-237.
doi: 10.1080/10705422.2024.2351935. Epub 2024 May 7.

Zoom & WhatsApp Digital Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Enhance Community Engaged Research with Women Immigrants from Mexico

Pachely Mendivil-Aguayo  1 , Megan Rivera  1 , Daniela Armendariz  1 , Daniel Perez Rodriguez  2 , Camille Vasquez  3 , Lidia Regino  2 , Maria Tellez  2 , Jackie Perez  3 , Dulce Medina  3 , Virginia Sandoval  4 , Cristina Murray-Krezan  5 , Alejandro Aragon  6 , Reuben J Thomas  7 , Elaine L Bearer  8 , Janet Page-Reeves  9
Affiliations

Zoom & WhatsApp Digital Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Enhance Community Engaged Research with Women Immigrants from Mexico

Pachely Mendivil-Aguayo et al. J Community Pract. 2024.

Abstract

This article demonstrates how digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) (Zoom/WhatsApp) unexpectedly and counterintuitively proved to be valuable tools for community-engaged health research when, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were integrated into a research study testing a peer support group intervention with female immigrants from Mexico. Because of pandemic restrictions, we changed the study protocol to hold meetings remotely via Zoom rather than in person as originally planned. Because we recognized that this would lack some opportunities for participants to interact and develop relationships, we created a WhatsApp chat for each group. Despite challenges for participants to use ICTs and participant-stated preference for in-person meetings, the results demonstrated that participants overwhelmingly endorsed these technologies as promoting access, participation, engagement, and satisfaction. Zoom/WhatsApp created a valuable environment both as a method for conducting research with this population, but also as part of the intervention for immigrant women to support and learn from each other. ICT adaptations have now permanently changed the way we conduct community-engaged health research.

Keywords: WhatsApp; Zoom; community-engaged research; female Mexican immigrants; information and communication technology (ICT); peer support.

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Figures

Figure A1.
Figure A1.
Zoom Guide created by Camille Vasquez, Camille’s Consulting.
Figure C1.
Figure C1.
Tertulias Creative Projects.
Figure C2.
Figure C2.
Creative Project by Marisela Arvizu depicting Tertulias and the Group on the Zoom Screen.
Figure D4.
Figure D4.
Technology Branches from the Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) map. This is a high-level view of a complex REM map that was created from participants’ discussion of how they interacted with the technologies of Zoom and WhatsApp, how these technologies impacted their participation and the way that they experienced the intervention. While difficult to see because of the density and size of the map, we present this image here to visually convey the extent of the impact.
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Sociograms of transportation-to-the-doctor support among participants in a Tertulias group, (a) Pre- and (b) Post-intervention. Letters represent the same individual participants across both sociograms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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