A Digital Health Intervention for Weight Management for Latino Families Living in Rural Communities: Perspectives and Lessons Learned During Development

Zenong Yin, Vanessa L Errisuriz, Martin Evans, Devasena Inupakutika, Sahak Kaghyan, Shiyu Li, Laura Esparza, David Akopian, Deborah Parra-Medina, Zenong Yin, Vanessa L Errisuriz, Martin Evans, Devasena Inupakutika, Sahak Kaghyan, Shiyu Li, Laura Esparza, David Akopian, Deborah Parra-Medina

Abstract

Rural residents face numerous challenges in accessing quality health care for management of chronic diseases (eg, obesity, diabetes), including scarcity of health care services and insufficient public transport. Digital health interventions, which include modalities such as internet, smartphones, and monitoring sensors, may help increase rural residents' access to health care. While digital health interventions have become an increasingly popular intervention strategy to address obesity, research examining the use of technological tools for obesity management among rural Latino populations is limited. In this paper, we share our experience developing a culturally tailored, interactive health intervention using digital technologies for a family-oriented, weight management program in a rural, primarily Latino community. We describe the formative research that guided the development of the intervention, discuss the process of developing the intervention technologies including issues of privacy and data security, examine the results of a pilot study, and share lessons learned. Our experience can help others design user-centered digital health interventions to engage underserved populations in the uptake of healthy lifestyle and disease management skills.

Keywords: Latino families; chronic disease; diet; digital intervention; lifestyle; mhealth; rural population; self-management; weight.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

©Zenong Yin, Vanessa L Errisuriz, Martin Evans, Devasena Inupakutika, Sahak Kaghyan, Shiyu Li, Laura Esparza, David Akopian, Deborah Parra-Medina. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (http://formative.jmir.org), 20.08.2020.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Healthy Frio remote technology (RT) intervention development process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Healthy Frio remote technology intervention conceptual model. MVPA: moderate to vigorous physical activity; PA: physical activity.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Healthy Frio remote technology intervention delivery platform.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Healthy Frio remote technology intervention system architecture. EC2, Elastic Cloud Compute; LMS, learning management system; REDCap, Research Electronic Data Capture.

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