Co-design of a digital dietary intervention for adults at risk of type 2 diabetes

Background Co-design has the potential to create interventions that lead to sustainable health behaviour change. Evidence suggests application of co-design in various health domains has been growing; however, few public-facing digital interventions have been co-designed to specifically address the needs of adults at risk of Type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study aims to: (1) co-design, with key stakeholders, a digital dietary intervention to promote health behaviour change among adults at risk of T2D, and (2) evaluate the co-design process involved in developing the intervention prototype. Methods The co-design study was based on a partnership between nutrition researchers and designers experienced in co-design for health. Potential end-users (patients and health professionals) were recruited from an earlier stage of the study. Three online workshops were conducted to develop and review prototypes of an app for people at risk of T2D. Themes were inductively defined and aligned with persuasive design (PD) principles used to inform ideal app features and characteristics. Results Participants were predominantly female (range 58–100%), aged 38 to 63 years (median age = 59 years), consisting of a total of 20 end-users and four experts. Participants expressed the need for information from credible sources and to provide effective strategies to overcome social and environmental influences on eating behaviours. Preferred app features included tailoring to the individual’s unique characteristics, ability to track and monitor dietary behaviour, and tools to facilitate controlled social connectivity. Relevant persuasive design principles included social support, reduction (reducing effort needed to reach target behaviour), tunnelling (guiding users through a process that leads to target behaviour), praise, rewards, and self-monitoring. The most preferred prototype was the Choices concept, which focusses on the users’ journey of health behaviour change and recognises progress, successes, and failures in a supportive and encouraging manner. The workshops were rated successful, and feedback was positive. Conclusions The study’s co-design methods were successful in developing a functionally appealing and relevant digital health promotion intervention. Continuous engagement with stakeholders such as designers and end-users is needed to further develop a working prototype for testing

Working together to increase Australian children’s liking of vegetables: A position statement by the vegetable intake strategic alliance (VISA)

Children need to be repeatedly and consistently exposed to a variety of vegetables from an early age to achieve an increase in vegetable intake. A focus on enjoyment and learning to like eating vegetables at an early age is critical to forming favourable lifelong eating habits. Coordinated work is needed to ensure vegetables are available and promoted in a range of settings, using evidence-based initiatives, to create an environment that will support children’s acceptance of vegetables. This will help to facilitate increased intake, and ultimately realise the associated health benefits. The challenges and evidence base for a new approach are described

Identifying critical features of type two diabetes prevention interventions: A Delphi study with key stakeholders

Aims This study aims to identify critically important features of digital type two diabetes mellitus (T2DM) prevention interventions. Methods A stakeholder mapping exercise was undertaken to identify key end-user and professional stakeholders, followed by a three-round Delphi procedure to generate and evaluate evidence statements related to the critical elements of digital T2DM prevention interventions in terms of product (intervention), price (funding models/financial cost), place (distribution/delivery channels), and promotion (target audiences). Results End-user (n = 38) and professional (n = 38) stakeholders including patients, dietitians, credentialed diabetes educators, nurses, medical doctors, research scientists, and exercise physiologists participated in the Delphi study. Fifty-two critical intervention characteristics were identified. Future interventions should address diet, physical activity, mental health (e.g. stress, diabetes-related distress), and functional health literacy, while advancing behaviour change support. Programs should be delivered digitally or used multiple delivery modes, target a range of population subgroups including children, and be based on collaborative efforts between national and local and government and non-government funded organisations. Conclusions Our findings highlight strong support for digital health to address T2DM in Australia and identify future directions for T2DM prevention interventions. The study also demonstrates the feasibility and value of stakeholder-led intervention development processes

Effect of Experiential Vegetable Education Program on Mediating Factors of Vegetable Consumption in Australian Primary School Students: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

Schools provide a relevant and equitable environment to influence students towards increased vegetable consumption. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a Vegetable Education Resource To Increase Children’s Acceptance and Liking (VERTICAL) for Australian primary schools (curriculum aligned and based on a framework of food preference development and sensory experiential learning) on positively influencing factors predisposing children towards increased vegetable consumption. The secondary aim was to evaluate two levels of teacher training intensity on intervention effectiveness. A cluster-RCT amongst schools with three conditions was conducted: 1 = teaching VERTICAL preceded by online teacher training; 2 = as per 1 with additional face-to-face teacher training; 3 = Control. Pre-test, post-test and 3-month follow-up measures (knowledge, verbalization ability, vegetable acceptance, behavioural intentions, willing to taste, new vegetables consumed) were collected from students (n = 1639 from 25 schools in Sydney/Adelaide, Australia). Data were analyzed using mixed model analysis. No difference in intervention effectiveness was found between the two training methods. Compared to the Control, VERTICAL positively affected all outcome measures after intervention (p < 0.01) with knowledge sustained at 3-month follow-up (p < 0.001). In conclusion, VERTICAL was effective in achieving change amongst students in mediating factors known to be positively associated with vegetable consumption

Editorial: at the Intersection of Multiple Research Fields

We are pleased to introduce a new issue of Mind, Culture and Activity, in which the journal’s commitment with innovative interdisciplinary scholarship becomes tangible through the diversity of works included. Opening with a paper that examines how an entire village learns and going through papers that look at such diverse issues as children’s grief, conceptualizations of women in medical care, and the role of sound in escape rooms, Issue 3 illustrates the Mind, Culture, and Activity journal\u27’s position at the intersection of a multiplicity of research fields. Academic discourses and concerns from such disparate fields as education, health care, sound studies, and human geography meet in these pages. Across the articles, an interest in the cultural nature of human cognition and activity, and an ambition to go beyond established scholar traditions, are shared. The issue includes six research articles and one book review. We hope the readers will find these contributions inspiring and interesting. We continue to develop Cultural Praxis1 as an interactive platform for extending the types of scholarly work that we publish, and as an arena for dialogical, critical, and activist projects. We include below an overview of recent publications and opportunities for participation in Cultural Praxis. We invite authors and readers of Mind, Culture, and Activity to consider contributing as we build this collaborative platform and to contact us with publication proposals, suggestions, and any other feedback

Editorial Vol. 30 Issue 1

The present issue includes five research articles and a book review. The first research article, by Dosun Ko, Aydin Bal, Aaron Bird Bear, Linda Orie, and Dian Mawene, continues a growing body of research drawing from decolonizing epistemologies (Smith, Citation2021), formative interventions (Engeström, Citation2016) and utopian methodologies (Rajala et al., Citation2022)) to redress issues of social justice through CHAT-informed research. Titled “Learning lab as a utopian methodology for future making: decolonizing knowledge production toward racial justice in school discipline,” the article discusses Learning Labs as a praxis-oriented systemic design intervention that facilitates a dialectical interplay between problem identification, that is, critical reflection on systemic contradictions, and problem-solving, that is, collective design actions. It elaborates the specific case of Indigenous Learning Lab (ILL), where local stakeholders’ engage in transformative future-making efforts to design a culturally decolonizing support system to address racial injustice at a rural high school. Using Levitas (Citation2013) work on utopia as a method as their theoretical lens, the authors examine their critical design ethnography work at the high school. This work documented the school community’s “collective endeavor toward decolonizing the future.” The authors studied the ways in which Native American students, families, tribal community members, and non-Native school staff expanded their future sociopolitical imaginations to envision alternative ways of organizing education

Thousand Cankers Disease Complex: A Forest Health Issue that Threatens Juglans Species across the U.S.

Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) is a disease complex wherein the fungus (Geosmithia morbida) is vectored by the walnut twig beetle (WTB, Pityophthorus juglandis). The disease causes mortality primarily of eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra), although other walnut and wingnut (Pterocarya) species are also susceptible. Black walnut is native to the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. but is widely planted in western states. Total standing volume in both urban and forested settings is approximately 96 million cubic meters, and is valued at $539 billion. Although native to the Southwestern U.S., the range of WTB has expanded considerably. The spread of G. morbida coincides with that of WTB. TCD was introduced into Tennessee in 2010, and has spread to seven eastern states. Trees infected with TCD exhibit drought-like symptoms, making field detection difficult without molecular and/or morphological methods. The recently sequenced G. morbida genome will provide valuable research tools focused on understanding gene interactions between organisms involved in TCD and mechanisms of pathogenicity. With no chemical treatments available, quarantine and sanitation are preeminent options for slowing the spread of TCD, although biological control agents have been discovered. High levels of black walnut mortality due to TCD will have far-reaching implications for both eastern and western states