Table 3.
Participant, mentor, and manager responses to qualitative acceptability questions on intervention likes, dislikes, and recommendations in the EMERGE randomized feasibility trial
| Topic | Codes | Rank | List of Findings | # stating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participants (N = 36) | ||||
| Likes | Educational Sessionsa | *** | Getting a chance to talk about your business idea | 8 |
| * | Receiving business information via handouts and presentations | 2 | ||
| ** | Talking to others with real microbusiness experience | 4 | ||
| *** | Friendly facilitators who created fun and hands-on environment | 5 | ||
| ** | Having opportunity to start a business / be an entrepreneur | 4 | ||
| Grants & Incentivesa | *** | Valued having cash to help launch new business | 7 | |
| *** | Obtaining additional money towards expenses from survey response | 6 | ||
| ** | Receiving a meal during sessions | 4 | ||
| Informational Text Messages | *** | Felt encouraged and inspired by weekly messages | 14 | |
| * | Repeated text messages on HIV reminded to get tested regularly | 2 | ||
| * | Receiving weekly employment updates | 2 | ||
| Text Message Surveysb | *** | Asked important questions about sexual health and employment | 7 | |
| ** | Text questions were inquisitive and straightforward | 3 | ||
| * | Convenient timing of text surveys | 1 | ||
| Miscb | * | Enjoyed talking to new people during interviews | 2 | |
| * | Rapid response of facilitators to questions or problems | 1 | ||
| Dislikes | Educational Sessionsa | * | Interruptions by non-participants or unengaged participants | 2 |
| * | Session times were difficult to match to personal schedule | 1 | ||
| * | Business training too infrequent and too short to launch business | 2 | ||
| * | Too few guest speakers and facilitators | 1 | ||
| Grants & Incentivesa | ** | Business grants paid in installments were too small for large purchases | 3 | |
| * | Difficulty determining what to spend on microbusiness (how to start) | 2 | ||
| ** | Payments sometimes late and cumbersome to get | 3 | ||
| Text Message Surveysb | *** | Text surveys sometimes crashed or froze on cell phone | 5 | |
| * | Weekly text survey questions reminded of past difficulties | 1 | ||
| Miscc | ** | Disappointed to be assigned to less valuable comparison group | 4 | |
| * | Uncomfortable with teasing and complaints towards experimental participants | 2 | ||
| Recommendations | Educational Sessionsa | * | Assign participants who complete EMERGE to be peer mentors | 1 |
| * | Exclude less active participants and re-disperse their unused grants | 2 | ||
| *** | Offer more frequent sessions outside of work hours | 5 | ||
| ** | Include more mentors, facilitators, and participants during sessions | 4 | ||
| Grants & Incentivesa | ** | Provide higher pay for responding to text survey | 3 | |
| * | Use a cash app or direct deposit to ease payment process | 1 | ||
| Text Messages & Surveyb | * | Provide more job announcements than one per week | 1 | |
| * | Ask different questions on different topics in text message survey | 2 | ||
| Mentors and Managers (n = 7) | ||||
| Likes | Recruitment | * | Perceived helpful interventions appealed to many young adults | 2 |
| Implementation | ** | Enjoyed being able to help participants pursue business goals | 4 | |
| * | Felt valued and well received by mentees/participants | 1 | ||
| ** | Saw that participants had incentives, something to look forward to | 3 | ||
| Dislikes | Recruitment | ** | Some participants were mentally under-prepared at time of enrollment for business leadership, employment, or financial responsibilities | 3 |
| Implementation | * | Unable to provide enough support to mentees given level of needs | 2 | |
| Recommendations | Recruitment | ** | Prior to enrollment, identify individuals with highest potential | 3 |
| *** | Facilitate more collaboration between mentors-mentees at enrollment | 5 | ||
| Implementation | * | Provide updates to mentors about mentees when contact decreases | 1 | |
| * | Help apply to texted jobs or help to interview as a professional | 1 | ||
| * | Support participants to purchase supplies via administrator or gift card | 2 | ||
[a] Applicable to experimental participants only; [b] Applicable to all randomized participants; [c] Applicable to comparison participants only