A Digital Health Intervention for Weight Management for Latino Families Living in Rural Communities: Perspectives and Lessons Learnt During Development (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED Rural residents face numerous challenges in accessing quality healthcare for management of chronic diseases (e.g., obesity, diabetes), including scarcity of healthcare services and insufficient public transport. Digital health interventions, that include modalities such as internet, smart phones, and monitoring sensors, may help increase rural residents' access to healthcare. 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. (Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03186885).