Inclusion of adults with developmental disabilities in the development of visual (pictorial and video) instructions for a physical activity education intervention

Effective demonstration techniques may facilitate the process of learning health behaviors in people with developmental disabilities (DD). However, there are few reports about how health information delivery materials are developed for this population. It is unclear if certain types of materials, such as videos and pictures are effective in transmitting health concepts to these individuals or to what extent the people with DD are included in the process of creating instructional materials. A visual (pictorial and video) instruction approach has been developed to teach physical activity (PA) to adults with DD living in the community. Specific concepts being addressed include levels of PA intensity, PA recommendations (10,000 steps/day), and instructions regarding pedometry use. Pictorial instructions in this project will be a series of pictures showing people from the target group engaging in various forms of light, moderate and hard PA, and correct equipment use. Video instructions will feature people engaging in PA and be used to prompt group discussions. A total of 25 pictures and 16 video clips will be produced and reviewed by a focus group of adults with DD to determine 1) perceived viewer-friendliness, 2) consistency, 3) clarity of message conveyance, and 4) volume of information related to memory retention. Feedback from the focus group and the process of developing materials according to participant input will be discussed.