Developing a tobacco survey for deaf youth

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Disparities
• Sociolinguistics

Background:

• Standard data collection methods present significant barriers for deaf youth.
• There is a critical need for culturally and linguistically sensitive approaches to identify health and programming needs within this population.
• Researchers often do not adequately detail the challenges in creating such targeted methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development of a culturally appropriate data collection instrument.
• To assess tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among deaf youth.
• To address the gap in methodologies for collecting data from underserved populations.

Main Methods:

• Development of an interactive multimedia questionnaire.
• Translation of the questionnaire into primary languages used by the Deaf community.
• Adaptation of technology and content to be sensitive to Deaf culture and communication preferences.

Main Results:

• Successful creation of a culturally appropriate data collection instrument for deaf youth.
• Demonstration of interactive multimedia technology's utility in overcoming language and cultural barriers.
• Generation of insights applicable to data collection among other underserved groups.

Conclusions:

• Culturally and linguistically tailored data collection instruments are essential for accurately assessing the needs of deaf youth.
• Interactive multimedia technology offers a viable solution for engaging this population.
• The developed methodology provides a framework for research with other marginalized communities.