Participatory design of mass health communication in three languages for seniors and people with disabilities on Medicaid.
OBJECTIVE
We used participatory design methods to develop and test guidebooks about health care choices intended for 600 000 English-, Spanish-, and Chinese-speaking seniors and people with disabilities receiving Medicaid in California.


METHODS
Design and testing processes were conducted with consumers and professionals; they included 24 advisory group interviews, 36 usability tests, 18 focus groups (105 participants), 51 key informant interviews, guidebook readability and suitability testing, linguistic adaptation, and iterative revisions of 4 prototypes.


RESULTS
Participatory design processes identified preferences of intended audiences for guidebook content, linguistic adaptation, and format; guidebook readability was scored at the sixth- to eighth-grade level and suitability at 95%. These findings informed the design of a separate efficacy study that showed high guidebook usage and satisfaction, and better gains in knowledge, confidence, and intended behaviors among intervention participants than among control participants.


CONCLUSIONS
Participatory design can be used effectively in mass communication to inform vulnerable audiences of health care choices. The techniques described can be adapted for a broad range of health communication interventions.
Neuhauser
Linda
L
Community Health and Human Development Department, School of Public Health, 50 Warren Hall, MC7360, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA. lindan@berkeley.edu
Rothschild
Beccah
B
Graham
Carrie
C
Ivey
Susan L
SL
Konishi
Susana
S
D000368:Aged; D002140:California; D003142:Communication; D003256:Community Participation / Q000379:methods*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D017144:Focus Groups; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008402:Mass Media; D008484:Medicaid; D020398:Medicare Part C; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States