Inclusive Online Interactive Platform for Parents in Rural Settings to Promote Healthy Habits - Project Summary/Abstract
Minnesota HealthSolutions Corporation (MHS) in collaboration with Mayo Clinic (Mayo) proposes to develop a
Parent Health Promoter digital platform to prompt and support positive behavior change for rural families. The
development of the proposed platform is particularly needed for rural populations who have higher rates of
obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and rural residents are more likely to be physically inactive compared to
their urban counterparts. Health promoting behaviors have a significant impact on many health outcomes,
including overweight and obesity in childhood and other non-communicable diseases. Yet rural populations
have less access to direct health care resources. Together, MHS and the Mayo will utilize iterative feedback
from the intended user population, to develop a platform based on both theory and practice that utilizes best
practices in user interface development. The needs of the intended population will be considered throughout
the development process and in phase I, a prototype of the platform will be tested with the intended population
for usability and acceptability. We have assembled a team with complimentary expertise to develop the
content, user interface and platform, and to conduct the needed testing.
