Middle School Students Want More Than Games for Health Education on the Internet

Henna Muzaffar, Darla M. Castelli, David Goss, Jane A. Scherer, Karen Chapman-Novakofski

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DOI: 10.4236/ce.2011.24056                

Abstract

Our aim was to assess the views of participants in the ‘the HOT project: Healthy Outcomes for Teens. Twelve focus group interviews (n = 42) were conducted using a structured questionnaire ranging from 2 to 5 per focus group. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by two investigators following content analysis. Emerging themes were consensus of research team. Three main themes emerged from the focus group data analysis with subcategories: kid appeal (social, entertainment, and information, that reflected why they used the internet, why and what they liked from the HOT project website), healthy living (diet, exercise, sleeping, friendship, and studying), and living with and without diabetes (those who had relatives with diabetes or not). Subjects appreciated the design, information, and entertainment. They had specific suggestions for increased fun, options for social interaction, broader health coverage for topics, and more depth and scenarios for diabetes information for those with limited exposure to the condition.

Keywords

Health Education, Online Learning, Diabetes, Focus Groups

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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