Y. Alicia Hong, PhD

Dr. Alicia Hong’s current research interests focus on how to effectively apply health information technology in disease prevention and health promotion, particularly on chronic disease management and caregiving. She employs community-engaged user-centered design to develop culturally tailored programs, integrating low-cost digital tools with clinical care to deliver personalized programs that are easy to adopt and sustain in underserved communities, ultimately reducing health disparities.

Dr. Hong has worked with immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, people living with HIV, people living with dementia and their caregivers, cancer survivors, and older adults with multiple chronic conditions in interdisciplinary and community-engaged research projects. These projects aim to increase disease screening and vaccination, enhance patient-provider communication, connect patients to communities and social services, and improve patient-centered health outcomes.

Dr. Hong has served as PI, Co-PI, or sub-PI in over 20 research projects funded by HHS-OMH, NIH, CDC, HRSA, and private foundations. She has published 100+ peer-reviewed journal articles and has served in expert and grant review panels for NIH, NSF, HRSA, PCORI, and international organizations. She has taught graduate courses on social determinants of health, program planning and evaluation, research methods, mHealth, behavioral intervention, and health policy.

Research

Select Publications

• Hong YA, Shen K, Han HR, Park VT, Bagchi, P, Lu HK, Chen H, Huang JH. Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Efficacy of WECARE: a WeChat-based Intervention for Chinese American Dementia Caregivers. JMIR Aging, in press.

• Hong YA, Soo Y, Bagchi P, Juon HS, Kim SC, Le D. Social media-based intervention to promote HBV screening and liver cancer prevention among Korean Americans: Results of a pilot study. Digital Health, 2022 Jan;8.

• Li Y, Guo Y, Hong YA, Zeng Y, Monroe-Wise A, Zeng C, Zhu M, Zhang H, Qiao J, Xu Z, Cai W. Dose–Response Effects of Patient Engagement on Health Outcomes in an mHealth Intervention: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth. 2022 Jan 4;10(1):e25586.

• Hong YA, Juon HS, Chou WY. Social media apps used by immigrants in the United States: challenges and opportunities for public health research and practice. Mhealth. 2021;7.

• Juon HS, Hong A, Pimpinelli M, Rojulpote M, McIntire R, Barta JA. Racial disparities in occupational risks and lung cancer incidence: Analysis of the National Lung Screening Trial. Preventive medicine. 2021 Feb 1;143:106355.

• Hong YA, Jiang S. Li PL. Use of patient portals of electronic health records remains low from 2014 to 2018: Results from a national survey and policy implications. Am J Health Promot. 2020 Jul;34(6):677-680.

• Guo Y, Hong YA*, Cai W, Li L, Hao Y…..Panedo F. Effect of a Mobile Health Intervention on Depressive Symptoms in People Living with HIV in China: The Run4Love Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res 2020;22(2):e16715

• Hong YA, Hossain MD, Chou WYS. Digital interventions to facilitate patient-provider communication in cancer care: a systematic review. Psycho-Oncology. 2020 Apr;29(4):591-603.

• Hong YA, Liang C, Radcliff T, Wigfall LT, Street RL. What do patients say about doctors online? A systematic review of studies on patient online reviews. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2019;21(4):e12521

• Jiang S, Hong YA, Li PL. Trends of online patient-provider communication among cancer survivors from 2008 to 2017: A digital divide perspective. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 2019: 1-8.

Degrees

• PhD, Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
• MAA, Medical Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park
• BA, English, Xiamen University