2:34:19 PM
Good Afternoon, I’m Vaishnavi Mehta. I’m glad to share this window into my practice and thoughts!
Designing Culturally Adapted Digital Tools for Afghan Refugees
A CBPR Approach to Mental Health and Family Strengthening
overview
This project builds on nearly a decade of work evolving the Family Strengthening Intervention for Refugees (FSI-R), first piloted from 2014 to 2016 with Somali Bantu and Bhutanese communities. It reimagines FSI-R as a culturally adapted mHealth tool, co-developed with Afghan families, community advisory boards (CABs), and interventionists. Designed through Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and human-centered design, the app strengthens parent-child relationships, fosters resilience, and equips families to navigate resettlement challenges. By prioritizing cultural resonance and scalability, it addresses the growing needs of Afghan refugee communities across the U.S.
Duration
Ongoing (Pilot Phase currently active)
Team
Theresa Betancourt Principal Investigator
Euijin Jung Postdoctoral Fellow
Farhad Sharifi Refugee Program Advisor
Sunand Bhattacharya Co-Principal Investigator
Vaishnavi Mehta Experience Designer
Community Partners and Funding Support
This project was developed in collaboration with Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services (MEIRS) and Afghan Community Advisory Boards (CABs). It is funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Supporting Innovation in Global Early Childhood Settings (SIGECS).
Note: This project also involved contributions from other Co-PIs, faculty members, Boston College staff, developers, student developers, graduate students, project managers, and other team members who played an essential role in the development.
My role
(Joined December 2022)
Co-Designed Solutions:
Facilitated 2 out of 6 participatory design sessions with Afghan families, interventionists, and community leaders to shape culturally relevant solutions.
Designed Multilingual UX/UI:
Created intuitive interfaces accessible to users with varying tech literacy and language needs.
Integrated Theory of Change (ToC):
Aligned intervention goals with app content, developing systemic frameworks for vignettes, targeted behaviors, and family narratives.
Ensured Cultural Relevance:
Integrated Afghan cultural values, family dynamics, and narratives into vignettes, and visuals for resonance and authenticity.
Supervised Technical Development:
Guided undergraduate developers in prototyping functional, user-centered solutions aligned with design objectives.
Afghan refugees walk through an Afghan refugee camp at Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst, N.J., on Sept. 27, 2021. (Photo Credit :Andrew Harnik/AP, File)
key challenges
Originally developed as a paper-based modules, FSI-R revealed key limitations that underscored the need for a digital transition:
Limited Engagement →
Cultural and Linguistic Barriers →
Operational Burdens →
Scalability Constraints →
Static modules restricted interaction and underutilized multimodal learning opportunities.
The content lacked adaptation to reflect the specific needs and contexts of Afghan families.
Interventionists struggled with resource-heavy processes and real-time customization of materials.
The delivery model was too labor-intensive to expand effectively to larger populations.