Designing Health Interventions to Meet the Needs and Experiences of Minoritized Adolescents: #DoubleTap4Health

Abstract

Engagement in preventive health behaviors (PHBs; i.e., healthy eating, sleep, and physical activity) during adolescence is associated with reduced risks for chronic conditions, such as diabetes, in adulthood. Although several interventions seek to improve adolescents’ engagement in health promoting behaviors, racial- and income-based disparities across PHBs persist and may be even more pronounced for adolescents with multiple minoritized identities (e.g., Black adolescents in low-income communities). Therefore, targeted interventions that better meet the needs of minoritized adolescents are critical. The design of such interventions should include: (1) adolescent involvement, (2) cultural tailoring, (3) developmental theory, and (4) consideration of the social determinants of health. This article describes how these elements have been successfully incorporated into adolescent preventive health interventions and used to design #DoubleTap4Health, a community-based social media health intervention for Black adolescents from a low-income community. The results of a feasibility pilot of #DoubleTap4Health suggest that (1) attention to these elements in the intervention design process is feasible and advantageous to ensuring that the intervention components are appropriate and well received by adolescents, and (2) the intervention demonstrated promise as adolescents showed improved engagement in PHBs and media literacy skills. Lessons learned and next steps for intervention development are discussed. Including the above four elements in the design of preventive health interventions for adolescents from minoritized communities is critical to promoting health equity.