Texting-based educational interventions can support chronic health management through promotion of positive health behavior change in high-risk populations. The current study sought to incorporate preferences and feedback from diverse patient populations into the design of an interactive, customizable, texting protocol to support Type 2 Diabetes self-management.

Using a participatory design process, feedback from patients shaped the protocol in content, wording, and frequency. Two Veterans were recruited as consultants to the study. Ninety Veterans with Type 2 Diabetes were recruited through mailed surveys, oversampling women, rural, minority and low-income Veterans. Twenty-three interviews were completed for in-depth feedback.

Survey respondents were 60% (N=54) male, 40% (N=35) Black, 52% (N=46) married, 43% (N=38) retired, and 58% (N=52) indicated having a hard time paying for necessities. The mean age was 64 years (SD=7.1).

Interviewed Veterans preferred tips for managing blood sugar and healthy eating [83% (N=19) and 78% (N=18), respectively, but only 30% (N=7) were interested in diabetes medication reminders 30% (N=7). For message frequency, participants, 52% preferred 1-2 messages per day, 35% preferred receiving more than two reminders (e.g., medication, activity), and 13% did not want daily messages. Patient feedback from Beta testing (n=6) was used to inform the final protocol.

The majority of Veterans who participated in our participatory design process were interested in receiving daily messages from a customizable diabetes self-management program. Veterans varied preferences helped shape a customizable program that allows choice of frequency, timing, and content of messages.

Communicating information to the public is an essential role for public health (PH). A widely used approach is through infographics—visual representations of information and data that convey clear messages in an engaging and comprehensible manner. However, we found no existing research that has examined the needs of PH practitioners when making infographics and no evidence of infographic tools created specifically for PH. The purpose of this study was to create and evaluate a novel PH informatics tool, Florence, to generate infographics for communicating information to the public. This user-centered design study included three phases: 1) an interview and survey with PH practitioners to assess needs when creating infographics; 2) application of assessment findings to create Florence, and 3) a study to evaluate the feasibility and usability of Florence. Study duration was August 2020-March 2022. Recruitment used convenience and snowball sampling to identify PH practitioners and PH students. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data used iterative content analysis. In phase 1, participants (n=32) highlighted the need to tailor infographics to the audience and wanted flexible tools along with design guidance to make fewer design decisions. In phase 2, Florence was developed with a familiar layout, intuitive ways to modify data in visualizations, and PH-focused visual elements. In phase 3, participants (n=23) found Florence to be usable and useful, providing an intuitive and straightforward experience. Overall, this study showed that infographics are important for PH communication and that creating user-centered solutions to address the unique needs of PH practitioners supports communication efforts.

This presentation will describe the process of creating and piloting a technology-based language tool designed to bridge a gap in language access at Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) Resource Hubs. PDPH Resource Hubs are drop-in centers located in neighborhoods with populations that often face barriers to receiving health services. They serve as a space for community members to access free and low-barrier information, education, and resources (including at-home COVID-19 test kits, at-home HIV test kits, condoms, cribs, and health screenings).

In neighborhoods surrounding two South Philadelphia Resource Hubs, community members speak a variety of languages including Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Khmer, and Indonesian. To improve the accessibility of PDPH services and resources to Limited English Proficient (LEP) community members, it became clear that an improved Language Access Plan was needed. This plan would allow LEP persons to see PDPH services advertised in their native language, to feel comfortable coming inside and requesting a service or asking a question, and to leave having received that service. To meet this need, Resource Hub staff piloted a user-friendly, tablet-based tool that an individual can use to communicate aloud with staff, indicating both the language that they speak and what they are interested in accessing. Staff can in-turn communicate with individuals through audio recordings in the corresponding language. This tool serves the purpose of creating a welcoming environment, seamlessly connecting LEP individuals with phone or live interpreters, beginning a conversation with the community member, and increasing equitable access to resources.

Background: Chinese American (CA) immigrant families have limited access to evidence-based resources, care and provider communication on early childhood mental health due to limited English proficiency and access to patient-facing electronic medical record (EMR) portals. OurChild project aims to address childhood mental health disparities by providing accessible in-language and culturally-tailored information for CA parents of young children using a digital solution. We co-designed a web-based application with a safety net clinic serving a majority CA immigrant population and CA service organizations.

Methods: We conducted a mixed methods study including: 1) key informant interviews with healthcare providers (n=6), community leaders (n=2); 2) two focus groups with CA immigrant parents (n=11); and 3) four user-testings of the low-fidelity web-app prototype with parents (n=11).

Results: Findings informed the user-centered design process of the web-app. All participants expressed the need for in-language resources. Parents shared their areas of concerns related to their child’s mental health. Parents are familiar with using Chinese online resources and prefer designs that are similar to them. Providers confirmed the need for a patient-provider digital solution given the CA patients’ limited use and access to the patient-facing EMR portal due to lack of Chinese translation. Providers and community leaders reported that integration of the web-app to patient’s EMR would be helpful to start the discussion for children who may need referrals or services.

Conclusions: The user-centered and culturally-tailored design approach is informing the development of a promising web-based app that will address a health disparities gap and facilitate access to reliable resources for the CA parents and providers.

Background: CDC’s Office of Island Affairs (OIA) supports public health in US territories and freely associated states through technical assistance, training, and funding. This audience encounters challenges with internet connectivity and accessing information on mobile devices. To better meet this audience’s needs and environment, it is critical that information shared online is clear and accessible from different devices (e.g., mobile/desktop devices).

OIA primarily uses its website to share information. However, much of the website content had not been updated within 1-2 years and needed to be redesigned to better serve users.

Methods: A multi-method approach was undertaken to evaluate the OIA digital products. Interviews were conducted with nine public health leaders and staff in US territories and freely associated states to learn what information supports their work and how they prefer to receive it. The website was audited to streamline content, prioritize key messages, and optimize for search engines. The impact of site changes was tracked using Adobe Analytics.

Results: Evaluation activities informed revisions to OIA’s website content, aligning it with audience search patterns and moving priority information to the top of the page. These changes led to a 1,300% increase in page views from January–March 2022 to January–March 2023. In addition, OIA created an html version of a PDF fact sheet about the office and its services to help with accessibility of information.

Conclusions: Through user feedback, audits, and analysis, OIA optimized their website to meet audience needs and increase reach to vital health information and resources.