Assessing Disparities in Hybrid and Online-Only Local Support Communities

HCI aspires to achieve equitable outcomes in our sociotechnical interventions. Prior work suggests that improved evaluation and reporting of intervention disparities can help achieve more equitable outcomes. We analyzed socioeconomic disparities in hybrid and online-only local support communities by quantitatively operationalizing the access-adoption-adherence-effectiveness (AAAE) framework. The hybrid intervention demonstrated statistically significant socioeconomic status (SES)-based disparities in adoption of community’s asynchronous online platform, while the online-only intervention demonstrated statistically significant disparities in access and adherence to synchronous online classes. Our findings suggest that disparities in earlier elements of the framework “pipeline” may mask later disparities due to survivorship bias, highlighting the importance of comprehensively examining the four elements of the framework. Using the example of a parenting education community, we reflect on using the AAAE framework as a rigorous tool to evaluate a sociotechnical intervention’s disparities, avoid survivorship bias, identify the most pertinent support needed, and aid efforts toward sustained and equitable outcomes.