A Call to Action: Using and Extending Human-Centered Design Methodologies to Improve Mental and Behavioral Health Equity

Simple item page
dc.creatorStiles-Shields, Colleen
dc.creatorCummings, Caroline (TTU)
dc.creatorMontague, Enid
dc.creatorPlevinsky, Jill M.
dc.creatorPsihogios, Alexandra M.
dc.creatorWilliams, Kofoworola D.A.
dc.date.accessioned2023-04-06T20:40:02Z
dc.date.available2023-04-06T20:40:02Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.descriptionCopyright © 2022 Stiles-Shields, Cummings, Montague, Plevinsky, Psihogios and Williams. cc-by
dc.description.abstractMental health disparities directly tie to structural racism. Digital mental health (DMH), the use of technologies to deliver services, have been touted as a way to expand access to care and reduce disparities. However, many DMH fail to mitigate the persistent disparities associated with structural racism that impact delivery (e.g., costs, dependable internet access)–and may even exacerbate them. Human-centered design (HCD) may be uniquely poised to design and test interventions alongside, rather than “for,” marginalized individuals. In employing HCD methodologies, developers may proceed with a vested interest in understanding and establishing empathy with users and their needs, behaviors, environments, and constraints. As such, HCD used to mindfully address structural racism in behavioral health care may address shortcomings of prior interventions that have neglected to elevate the voices of marginalized individuals. We argue that a paradigm shift in behavioral health services research is critically needed–one that embraces HCD as a key methodological framework for developing and evaluating interventions with marginalized communities, to ultimately promote more accessible, useful, and equitable care. The current commentary illustrates practical examples of the use of HCD methodologies to develop and evaluate DMH designed with marginalized populations, while also highlighting its limitations and need for even greater inclusivity. Following this, calls to action to learn from and improve upon HCD methodologies will be detailed. Acknowledging potential limitations of current design practices, methodologies must ultimately engage representative voices beyond research participation and invest in their active role as compensated and true collaborators to intervention design.
dc.identifier.citationStiles-Shields, C., Cummings, C., Montague, E., Plevinsky, J.M., Psihogios, A.M., & Williams, K.D.A.. 2022. A Call to Action: Using and Extending Human-Centered Design Methodologies to Improve Mental and Behavioral Health Equity. Frontiers in Digital Health, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2022.848052
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2022.848052
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2346/92580
dc.language.isoeng
dc.subjectanti-racism
dc.subjectdigital mental health
dc.subjectequity
dc.subjecthuman-centered design
dc.subjectmental health
dc.titleA Call to Action: Using and Extending Human-Centered Design Methodologies to Improve Mental and Behavioral Health Equity
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Main article with TTU Libraries cover page.pdf
Size:
440.94 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Faculty Research