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Project Leads

Neelam Punjani

Team Members
Shannon Scott, Margot Jackson, Bukola Salami, Kristopher Wells, Fatawu Abdulai

Cluster: Immigrant Adolescent and Youth Health

Immigrant families often face barriers accessing culturally relevant sexual and mental health information, including language differences, stigma, and challenges navigating complex systems. This project uses interactive text-message technology to co-design and test culturally responsive digital tools that support immigrant parents in communicating with youth and accessing health information and services.

This project aims to co-design and evaluate interactive text-based digital tools that support immigrant parents in accessing, understanding, and navigating youth sexual and mental health information and services. Building on previous community-engaged research, the project will develop culturally responsive and linguistically appropriate text-message modules addressing topics identified as priorities by immigrant parents and youth, including puberty, consent, healthy relationships, body image, pornography, and mental health. Through community-based participatory research and integrated knowledge translation approaches, the project seeks to strengthen parent–youth communication, improve access to trusted information, and reduce barriers to service navigation. Findings will inform future scale-up initiatives, policy development, and community programming aimed at improving health equity among immigrant families.

1. How can interactive text-message interventions be co-designed to meet the sexual and mental health information needs of immigrant parents?
2. How acceptable, culturally relevant, and user-friendly are text-based digital tools for immigrant families?
3. How do immigrant parents engage with and use text-message interventions to support parent–youth communication?
4. What factors influence the implementation and scalability of digital health tools for immigrant communities?

This two-year study uses a community-based participatory research (CBPR) and integrated knowledge translation (iKT) approach. Co-design workshops will be conducted with immigrant parents, youth, and community stakeholders to develop interactive text-message modules addressing sexual and mental health topics. The modules will incorporate tailored messaging, branching logic, and culturally adapted content. A pilot usability study involving approximately 50 immigrant parents will assess feasibility, acceptability, usability, engagement, and perceived impact over a 4–6-week period. Quantitative data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative interview data will be analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings will be interpreted through an intersectionality and health equity lens.

• WCHRI Innovation Grant (2024–2026): Interactive Text-Based Digital Tools to Support Immigrant Parents in Youth Sexual and Mental Health Navigation.

This project is in the planning phase.

Immigrant Health; Digital Health; Sexual Health; Mental Health; Text Messaging Interventions