JUS Media Global Classroom Guide to Culturally Adapting Interventions
The dual COVID-19 and racism pandemics have underscored the need for accessible, culturally sensitive interventions that serve Black adolescent populations. Culturally sensitive interventions improve effectiveness of delivery to diverse populations, and is lacking for many underserved communities (Rodriguez et. Al, 2011). JUS Media? Global Classroom (JMGC) is a digitized version of a food-focused media literacy intervention known as the JUS Media? Programme which exemplifies the effectiveness of cultural variations. JMGC was designed to increase awareness of a process known as acculturation, the integration of another culture into one’s identity, which may result in dietary changes. Research indicates American media’s negative influence on diets of individuals living in Jamaica, leading to an increased preference for unhealthy American diets over healthier alternatives (Ferguson et. Al, 2019). The recognition of a need to address American media’s influence on youth beyond Jamaica led to the development of a program to target immigrant youth in the U.S. This presentation will explain the process of digitizing and culturally adapting the JUS Media? Programme for a Somali American audience. Saari Lane, an undergraduate research assistant in the Culture and Family Life Lab, followed three steps in the digitization process: drafting digitized videos, adapting culturally sensitive content, and utilizing feedback from cultural insiders to complete revisions. Following this digitization and adaptation process is an efficient way to build an accessible and culturally relevant intervention program for underserved communities, which will be demonstrated using video clips from the digitization process.