About me
Gamification of Healthy Juntos: A Digital Obesity Prevention Intervention for Hispanic Adolescents and their Parents
Location: 89
Mentor: Dr. Vanina Pavia
Healthy Juntos is a culturally tailored, family-based digital intervention aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors among Hispanic adolescents. This population experiences one of the highest obesity prevalence rates, currently at 26%. However there is a lack of age-specific and culturally relevant interventions—particularly within the digital health (eHealth) space, which has shown potential for broader dissemination and engagement.
To evaluate the intervention's effectiveness, an efficacy study is being conducted with an enrollment goal of 375 families (750 participants total), consisting of adolescents and their parents. Half of the participants will be assigned to an experimental group using the Healthy Juntos application.
As part of recent updates guided by the IDEAS (Integrate, Design, Assess and Share) framework which has been used for the development process of Healthy Juntos, enhancements were made to the intervention’s design to improve user engagement.
Besides the addition of implementing design elements and improving the aesthetics, an extensive literature review was conducted to help identify strategies to help increase user engagement in digital space. Gamification was identified as a promising approach, leading to the integration of features such as customizable avatars, small rewards, lessons learned, and badges. These design enhancements are expected to increase user engagement and motivation. The next phase involves expanding the successful game-based strategies to the broader application, further supporting healthy behavior change within Hispanic families.
