mPulse Mobile Collaborates with Mount Sinai to Address Diabetes Risk Among Teenagers in East Harlem
Unique three-way partnership uses novel digital engagement strategies to create a meaningful and engaging clinical intervention with the target population
mPulse Mobile, a leader in conversational AI and digital engagement solutions for the healthcare industry, today announced their collaboration with the Mount Sinai Health System, New York City’s largest academic medical system, to deliver an innovative health program that address diabetes risk among teenagers in East Harlem. East Harlem is a racially/ethnically diverse neighborhood in New York City with high diabetes rates.
According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), there is an increasing prevalence of prediabetes among American youth – nearly 1 in 5 teenagers and 1 in 4 young adults. Individuals in this age group have an increasing responsibility for their health but often lack the health literacy and self-efficacy needed to take appropriate steps to manage it on their own. Unfortunately, traditional engagement strategies are not designed for younger populations, which limits their ability to address various health issues, including prediabetes.
“There is a significant need for diabetes-related education and prevention within the East Harlem youth population, and by working with mPulse Mobile, we now have the ability to initiate sensitive and scaled digital conversations with this target population that gets them meaningfully engaged in managing their health,” said Dr. Nita Vangeepuram, MD, MPH, pediatrician, clinical researcher, and an Associate Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “I am confident that we can make a difference in their health outcomes moving forward.”
mPulse Mobile and Mount Sinai collaborate with a community advisory board including youth and young adults who help guide their research. The advisory board provides input across many aspects of the program, including content creation, tailoring, and managing goal setting and tracking. mPulse Mobile’s health activation platform and engagement expertise are helping transition the program to a digital-first solution that delivers tailored content through high adoption communication channels. Combining these digital engagement strategies with input from the community has helped the Mount Sinai research team create a robust clinical intervention that is meaningful and engaging to the target population.
“As a leading provider of digital health engagement solutions, we know the impact well designed programs can have on populations impacted by social determinants of health,” stated Chris Nicholson, founder and CEO of mPulse Mobile. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Dr. Nita Vangeepuram’s research team to identify new ways to increase the relevancy of clinical interventions for youth populations and create pathways to address important health equity goals.”