Proposing a Framework for Mobile Applications in Disaster Health Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-495
Author(s):  
Alexander G. Liu ◽  
Brian A. Altman ◽  
Kenneth Schor ◽  
Kandra Strauss-Riggs ◽  
Tracy N. Thomas ◽  
...  

AbstractMobile applications, or apps, have gained widespread use with the advent of modern smartphone technologies. Previous research has been conducted in the use of mobile devices for learning. However, there is decidedly less research into the use of mobile apps for health learning (eg, patient self-monitoring, medical student learning). This deficiency in research on using apps in a learning context is especially severe in the disaster health field. The objectives of this article were to provide an overview of the current state of disaster health apps being used for learning, to situate the use of apps in a health learning context, and to adapt a learning framework for the use of mobile apps in the disaster health field. A systematic literature review was conducted by using the PRISMA checklist, and peer-reviewed articles found through the PubMed and CINAHL databases were examined. This resulted in 107 nonduplicative articles, which underwent a 3-phase review, culminating in a final selection of 17 articles. While several learning models were identified, none were sufficient as an app learning framework for the field. Therefore, we propose a learning framework to inform the use of mobile apps in disaster health learning. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:487–495)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurul Asilah Ahmad ◽  
Shahrul Azman Mohd Noah ◽  
Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin ◽  
Suzana Shahar ◽  
Noorlaili Mohd Tohit

BACKGROUND Currently, the use of smartphones to deliver health-related content has experienced a rapid growth, with more than 165,000 mobile health (mHealth) applications currently available in the digital marketplace such as iOS store and Google Play. Among these, there are several mobile applications (mobile apps) that offer tools for disease prevention and management among older generations. These mobile apps could potentially promote health behaviors which will reduce or delay the onset of disease. However, no review to date that has focused on the app marketplace specific for older adults and little is known regarding its evidence-based quality towards the health of older adults. OBJECTIVE The aim of this review was to characterize and critically appraise the content and functionality of mobile apps that focuses on health management and/or healthy lifestyle among older adults. METHODS An electronic search was conducted between May 2019 to December 2019 of the official app store for two major smartphone operating systems: iPhone operating system (iTunes App Store) and Android (Google Play Store). Stores were searched separately using predetermined search terms. Two authors screened apps based on information provided in the app description. Metadata from all included apps were abstracted into a standard assessment criteria form. Evidenced based strategies and health care expert involvement of included apps was assessed. Evidenced based strategies included: self-monitoring, goal setting, physical activity support, healthy eating support, weight and/or health assessment, personalized feedback, motivational strategies, cognitive training and social support. Two authors verified the data with reference to the apps and downloaded app themselves. RESULTS A total of 16 apps met the inclusion criteria. Six out of 16 (37.5%) apps were designed exclusively for the iOS platform while ten out of 16 (62.5%) were designed for Android platform exclusively. Physical activity component was the most common feature offered in all the apps (9/16, 56.3%) and followed by cognitive training (8/16, 50.0%). Diet/nutrition (0/16, 0%) feature, however, was not offered on all reviewed mobile apps. Of reviewed apps, 56.3% (9/16) provide education, 37.5% (6/16) provide self-monitoring features, 18.8% (3/16) provide goal setting features, 18.5% (3/16) provide personalized feedback, 6.3% (1/16) provide social support and none of the reviewed apps offers heart rate monitoring and reminder features to the users. CONCLUSIONS All reviewed mobile apps for older adults in managing health did not focused on diet/nutrition component, lack of functional components and lack of health care professional involvement in their development process. There is also a need to carry out scientific testing prior to the development of the app to ensure cost effective and its health benefits to older adults. Collaborative efforts between developers, researchers, health professionals and patients are needed in developing evidence-based, high quality mobile apps in managing health prior they are made available in the app store.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Drusany Starič ◽  
Vladimir Trajkovik ◽  
Hrvoje Belani ◽  
Petra Bukovec

BACKGROUND The rapid development of mobile application technology and personalized medicine also in Europe, stimulate the self-monitoring. Self-monitoring allows the patient to actively participate in the treatment process, with a positive impact on the result of the treatment. Mobile applications thus offer a new way to promote healthy behaviors, such as healthy diet, physical activity and measurement of blood glucose levels in the care for women with gestational diabetes. However, there are many factors, which make significant barriers preventing wide use of mobile applications in general medical praxis. OBJECTIVE The main aim of this study is to evaluate the most commonly used mobile apps used to manage gestational diabetes and compare them to each other. METHODS This paper presents a study, which investigates the mobile applications that can potentially support controlling of the blood sugar in pregnant women. After a broad overview of mobile applications on the Google Play Store and iTunes, we found 90 mobile applications that fit our keywords search terms and our inclusion criteria. Among these 90 applications, only 4 were designed for the management of gestational diabetes and not diabetes in general. All 4 were downloaded and analysed. Among the rest 86 applications that were designed to manage diabetes in general we downloaded, evaluated and compared to each other 5 applications with the highest download rate. RESULTS The characteristics of the most commonly used applications were described. Differentiations between useful mobile applications were investigated. CONCLUSIONS Applications can provide support for women to act on a certain issue by themselves without visiting an obstetrician. Although most of the applications were very useful, we suggested improvements. The greatest policy concerns of connected health are quality, privacy and safety of the gathered data.


Author(s):  
Jihye Choi ◽  
Chongwook Chung ◽  
Hyekyung Woo

Dietary mobile applications (apps) continue to hold promise for facilitating a healthy diet and managing nutrition. However, few studies have objectively evaluated the content and quality of such apps in Korea. The present study assessed the content and quality of dietary mobile apps using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). We selected 29 dietary apps based on keywords and eligibility criteria for inclusion in the analyses. We conducted regression analyses to examine the association between app content and MARS scores. Most of the apps featured a tracking tool, while few featured rewards or follow-up management. Our quality assessment revealed that the top-rated apps have distinct levels of quality in terms of MARS scores. The regression analyses showed that the ways in which the apps provide information and motivate the users are statistically significant predictors of app quality. Our findings may facilitate the selection of dietary apps in Korea and provide guidelines for app developers regarding potential improvements in terms of content and quality.


Author(s):  
Tseday Alehegn ◽  
Richard Keller

This chapter focuses on how mobile applications may be used to enhance accessibility for individuals with disabilities in the educational setting as well as to encourage the development of apps that embrace universal design principles. Smartphones and tablets, often by default, provide alternative accessible features addressing the needs of individuals with visual, auditory and/or physical disabilities. As schools make the leap into the mobile age it is imperative to explore mobile applications developed with the universal design learning framework in mind and intent to provide equal access in learning environments. Increased use of mobile apps in the classroom goes hand in hand with the growing popularity of these tools in everyday life outside of the school context, and this chapter is a call for greater engagement with mobile applications that have been designed to be accessible for individuals with disabilities, and to promote a more collaborative and equitable learning environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-131
Author(s):  
Ming Li Carol Seah ◽  
Koon Teck Koh

Smartphones are omnipresent and offer real-time information on the go. Predominantly, adolescent girls have been found to be engaged in levels of physical activity (PA) below the daily recommended guideline of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity, and especially during weekends. Lack of sufficient PA can lead to a risk of contracting non-communicable diseases. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the efficacy of using mobile applications (app) (i.e. MapMyFitness [MMF]) in changing adolescent girls’ PA behaviour during weekends. It also examined the perceived benefits, challenges and recommendations for using mobile apps. Thirty-six participants aged 15 years ( Mage = 14.9; SD = 0.30) from a convenience sample volunteered and took part in the present study, which spanned four weekends. Quantitative results showed a significant difference in the mean step count between experimental and control groups during week two, probably due to the novelty effect when the participants were introduced to the new MMF mobile app. Overall, the use of the MMF app seems to be able to attenuate the decline of adolescent girls’ PA level during weekends. Qualitative results revealed benefits of using mobile apps to promote PA, such as a sense of autonomy in selecting PA, the ability to view friends’ postings of PA and self-monitoring of PA. The study revealed specific challenges to using such PA mobile apps - in particular, factors such as the cumbersome and confusing functions in the app that discouraged users from performing PA. Recommendations included allowing users to customise their accounts, simplifying the app’s functions, and including rewards and videos as motivators to enhance users’ PA experience. Although mobile apps may have the potential to encourage participation in PA, a careful selection of mobile app functions is required to engage adolescent girls to continue to use it for PA.


Author(s):  
Tseday Alehegn ◽  
Richard Keller

How can mobile applications may be used to enhance accessibility for individuals with disabilities in educational settings as well as to encourage the development of apps that embrace universal design principles? Smartphones and tablets, often by default, provide alternative accessible features addressing the needs of individuals with visual, auditory, and/or physical disabilities. As schools make the leap into the mobile age, it is imperative to explore mobile applications developed with the universal design learning framework in mind and intent to provide equal access in learning environments. Increased use of mobile apps in the classroom goes hand in hand with the growing popularity of these tools in everyday life outside of the school context, and this chapter is a call for greater engagement with mobile applications that have been designed to be accessible for individuals with disabilities, and to promote a more collaborative and equitable learning environment.


1978 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 515-521
Author(s):  
W. Nicholson

SummaryA routine has been developed for the processing of the 5820 plates of the survey. The plates are measured on the automatic measuring machine, GALAXY, and the measures are subsequently processed by computer, to edit and then refer them to the SAO catalogue. A start has been made on measuring the plates, but the final selection of stars to be made is still a matter for discussion.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hikari Takashina ◽  
Kengo Yokomitsu

There are thousands of mobile apps delivering information and offering support and intervention in situations of daily life. The aim of this study was to identify the current state of apps for depressive symptoms or prevention of depression within the official Android and iOS app stores in Japan. The 47 apps for depression available for download from the app stores were evaluated by the App Evaluation Model regarding background information, risk/ privacy and security, evidence, ease of use, and interoperability. Also, we evaluated their primary purpose, technology components, and cognitive-behavioral therapy components. The results suggest that in general few apps have been developed that are evidence-based, secure, and provide the services that users expect. In the future, it will be necessary to develop a framework for developing and disseminating more effective apps. This study is the first review of apps for depression available in Japan and seeks to help create a framework for such apps.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reham AlTamime ◽  
Vincent Marmion ◽  
Wendy Hall

BACKGROUND Mobile apps and IoT-enabled smartphones technologies facilitate collecting, sharing, and inferring from a vast amount of data about individuals’ location, health conditions, mobility status, and other factors. The use of such technology highlights the importance of understanding individuals’ privacy concerns to design applications that integrate their privacy expectations and requirements. OBJECTIVE This paper explores, assesses, and predicts individuals’ privacy concerns in relation to collecting and disclosing data on mobile health apps. METHODS We designed a questionnaire to identify participants’ privacy concerns pertaining to a set of 432 mobile apps’ data collection and sharing scenarios. Participants were presented with 27 scenarios that varied across three categorical factors: (1) type of data collected (e.g. health, demographic, behavioral, and location); (2) data sharing (e.g., whether it is shared, and for what purpose); and, (3) retention rate (e.g., forever, until the purpose is satisfied, unspecified, week, or year). RESULTS Our findings show that type of data, data sharing, and retention rate are all factors that affect individuals’ privacy concerns. However, specific factors such as collecting and disclosing health data to a third-party tracker play a larger role than other factors in triggering privacy concerns. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that it is possible to predict privacy concerns based on these three factors. We propose design approaches that can improve users’ awareness and control of their data on mobile applications


Risks ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Halina Sobocka-Szczapa

The aim of this article is to present the risk model premises related to worker recruitment. Recruitment affects the final selection of workers, whose activities contribute to corporate competitive advantages. Hiring unfavorable workers can influence the results produced by an organization. This risk mostly affects situations when searching for workers via the external labor market, although it can also affect internal recruitment. Therefore, it is necessary to attempt to identify recruitment risk determinants and classify their meaning in such processes. Model formation has both theoretical and intuitive characteristics. Model dependencies and their characteristics are identified in this paper. We attempted to assess the usability of the risk model for economic praxis. The analyses and results provide a model identification of dependencies between the factors determining a workers recruitment process and the risk which is caused by this process (employing inadequate workers who do not meet the employer’s expectations). The identification of worker recruitment process determinants should allow for practically reducing the risk of employing an inadequate worker and contribute to the reduction in unfavorable recruitment processes. The added value of this publication is the complex identification of recruitment process risk determinants and dependency formulations in a model form.


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