The Pan American Health Organization published the guide "Youth-Centered Digital Health Interventions", a framework for planning, developing and implementing solutions with and for the young population.
The PAHO document offers guidance for the implementation of digital strategies that seek to promote health in adolescents and young people. It presents the steps of each stage to design an intervention with a focus on the young population.
The guide is aimed at designers, developers, researchers and funders of Digital Health interventions and was created so that people without much experience in the field can use it as a comprehensive manual. Likewise, experienced individuals can skip ahead between chapters in the document.
The framework has three stages:
- Planning: Lay the groundwork for interventions by analyzing the current health and digital landscape, and assessing the needs of target users, to determine if a digital solution is the ideal approach and determine the key elements needed to achieve results predicted through a theoretical approach.
- Developing: Design and test the health information and technology needed for the intervention, using an iterative approach to continuously improve content and communication methods through the creation of a series of prototypes.
- Implementation: Turn preparedness into action through a phased intervention, publicizing the intervention and attracting users through promotional and marketing campaigns, evaluating the results with continuous monitoring and evaluation.
The key points that readers of the guide should keep in mind during the three stages are as follows: The youth population must be included in all stages of the process; A digital solution is not always the best option; It is better to reuse than to reinvent; and Digital Health is not a miracle formula.
The document was developed thanks to other international organizations such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (UNESCO).
Check the complete guide in the following link: https://iris.paho.org/bitstream/handle/10665.2/54520/9789275324103_spa.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
