"User Experiences of Spanish-Speaking Latinos with the Frontier Behavioral Health Website"

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About the Author

Raquel L. Dean holds a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in English with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Technical Communication from Eastern Washington University. She currently works for Kalispell Regional Healthcare as a School-based Mental Health Worker and plans to obtain her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in the near future. Her research interests lie in both psychology and technical communication, with topics including: minority mental health, child psychopathology (childhood trauma and anxiety disorders) and evaluating barriers among minorities when accessing and receiving mental health care, by facilitating usability tests to examine information design and observe the users' experience.

Contents

Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

Test Goals and Objectives

Participants

Scenario and Test Tasks

Metrics

Results

Findings and Discussion

Conclusion

Limitations of Study

Recommendations for Future Research

References

Appendix A: Pre-Test Survey

Appendix B: Recruitment Email

Appendix C: Post-Test Interview

Test Goals and Objectives

The objective of this study was to collect data from a series of usability tests, which will be used to examine how Spanish-speaking Latinos interact with a website that delivers information about mental health services. The goal was to identify usability problems, collect qualitative and quantitative data, and determine the participants’ overall satisfaction with the website. More specifically: how do Spanish-speaking Latinos navigate information on the Frontier Behavioral health website?

I chose to evaluate the Frontier Behavioral Health website for this study because it is a non-profit organization that has been serving the Spokane region for more than 100 years. Their website also states that FBH is the “lead service provider in the Spokane County Regional Support Network (SCRSN)” system of care. FBH is an organization that has been serving the community for decades and has built a reputation within Spokane county. Further, their mission itself states that they strive to “provide clinically and culturally appropriate behavioral healthcare and related services to people of all ages…” as well as making their “behavioral healthcare services timely, accessible, and barrier free…” I wanted to choose an organization that is in fact committed and dedicated to helping the diverse community of Spokane.