Articles

Developing a Tailored Website for Promoting Awareness about Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Among Blacks in Community-Based Settings

Robbins, Rebecca; Senathirajah, Yalini; Williams, Natasha J.; Hutchinson, Carly; Rapoport, David; Allegrante, John P.; Cohall, Alwyn T.; Rogers, April; Ogedegbe, Gbenga; Jean-Louis, Giardin

Blacks are at greater risk for lower sleep quality and higher risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) than other racial groups. In this study, we summarize the development of a tailored website including visuals, key messages, and video narratives, to promote awareness about sleep apnea among community-dwelling blacks. We utilized mixed methods, including in-depth interviews, usability-testing procedures, and brief surveys (n = 9, 55% female, 100% black, average age 38.5 years). Themes from the qualitative analysis illuminated varied knowledge regarding OSA symptoms and prevalent self-reported experience with sleep disturbance and OSA symptoms (e.g., snoring). On a scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very high), participants provided favorable ratings of website usefulness (mean = 4.9), user friendliness (mean = 4.9) and attractiveness (mean = 4.3). Our findings suggest although tailored health communication has potential for serving as a tool for advancing health equity, usability-testing of health materials is critical to ensure that culturally and linguistically tailored messages are acceptable and actionable in the intended population.

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Also Published In

Title
Health Communication
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2018.1423865

More About This Work

Academic Units
Health and Behavior Studies
Sociomedical Sciences
Published Here
March 2, 2020