Bridging the gap of childhood mental health information by designing a digital library with culturally-tailored resources for Chinese American immigrant families

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: Chinese Americans (CA) with limited English proficiency (LEP) have shown one of the highest prevalence of low health literacy among other racial/ethnic groups the US. There is a lack of equitable access to evidence-based in-language resources and information for CA immigrant families on early childhood development and mental well-being. In partnership with community partners and child educational and psychology specialists from Together Growing Strong (TGS), an initiative that serves low-income CA families to improve the health and school readiness of young children, we are creating a digital library with culturally-tailored and in-language materials that will be easily accessible via a web-app.

Methods: Applying a culture-centered framework, we: 1) conducted focus groups and interviews with providers (n=6), parents (n=11) and community leaders (n=2); and 2) conducted a review of the TGS library of educational materials as well as a high-level review of the design and functionality of Chinese language information apps and websites.

Results: Findings informed adaptation of the existing materials from TGS and development of new pieces. Participants shared preference for: 1) audiovisual materials compared to text and short text pieces that include short actionable practical tips; 2) the use of figures and pictures at the surface and deep culture domains (e.g., using an image of intergenerational household instead of a single-family household); and 3) avoiding words like “mental health” and to focus instead on social, psychological and behavioral well-being and school readiness. Content areas of interest included special education policy and information on appropriate screen-time.

Conclusions: Findings informed development of different content materials of the digital library on early childhood development and mental health. A digital library that provides culturally-tailored resources in different media types, such as short plain text articles with pictures and figures and video contents, will be designed to serve the CA families.

Implications for research and/or practice: Findings have underscored the need for developing culturally centered, plain language and short, actionable materials on early childhood development and mental well-being for this under-served CA immigrant community. This approach can be applied to other low health literacy immigrant communities to address gap in needed educational materials.