Mental Health Apps in China: Analysis and Quality Assessment

Background Mental disorders have been a great burden on health care systems, affecting the quality of life of millions of people worldwide. Developing countries, including China, suffer from the double burden of both the increasing mental health issues in population and the deficiency in mental health care resources. The use of mobile health technologies, especially for mobile phone apps, can be a possible solution. Objective This review aimed to describe the features and assess the quality of mental health apps in major mobile phone app markets in China and further discuss the priorities for mental health app development. Methods Keywords including psychology, psychological health, psychological hygiene, psychological health service(s), mental, mental health, mental hygiene, mental health service(s), depression, and anxiety were searched in Chinese in 3 Android app markets (Baidu Mobile Assistant, Tencent MyApp, and 360 Mobile Assistant) and iOS App Store independently. Mental health apps were then selected according to established criteria for in-depth analysis and quality assessment by the Mobile App Rating Scale. Results In total, 63 of 997 mental health apps were analyzed in depth, of which 78% (49/63) were developed by commercial entities for general population, 17% (11/63) were for patients or clients of specialized psychiatric hospitals or counseling agencies, 3% (2/63) were by government or local Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for general information, and 2% (1/63) for students of a university. Major built-in features of the apps included counseling services, mental health education, and self-assessment of mental health status by validated self-rating scales. The overall quality score of the MH apps was acceptable. Conclusions Mental health apps are emerging in the area of mobile health in China. Popular mental health apps usually provide a synthetic platform organizing resources of information, knowledge, counseling services, self-tests, and management for the general population with mental health-related inquiries. The quality of the apps was rated as acceptable on average, suggesting some space for improvement. Official guidelines and regulations are urgently required for the field in the future.

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Mental Health Apps in China: Analysis and Quality Assessment (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.13236 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jie Shang ◽

Shaoming Wei ◽

Jianbo Jin ◽

Puhong Zhang

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

General Population ◽

Health Service ◽

Quality Assessment ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Counseling Services ◽

Health Apps

BACKGROUND Mental disorders have been a great burden on health care systems, affecting the quality of life of millions of people worldwide. Developing countries, including China, suffer from the double burden of both the increasing mental health issues in population and the deficiency in mental health care resources. The use of mobile health technologies, especially for mobile phone apps, can be a possible solution. OBJECTIVE This review aimed to describe the features and assess the quality of mental health apps in major mobile phone app markets in China and further discuss the priorities for mental health app development. METHODS Keywords including <italic>psychology</italic>, <italic>psychological health</italic>, <italic>psychological hygiene</italic>, <italic>psychological health service(s)</italic>, <italic>mental</italic>, <italic>mental health</italic>, <italic>mental hygiene</italic>, <italic>mental health service(s)</italic>, <italic>depression</italic>, and <italic>anxiety</italic> were searched in Chinese in 3 Android app markets (<italic>Baidu Mobile Assistant</italic>, <italic>Tencent MyApp</italic>, and <italic>360 Mobile Assistant</italic>) and iOS App Store independently. Mental health apps were then selected according to established criteria for in-depth analysis and quality assessment by the Mobile App Rating Scale. RESULTS In total, 63 of 997 mental health apps were analyzed in depth, of which 78% (49/63) were developed by commercial entities for general population, 17% (11/63) were for patients or clients of specialized psychiatric hospitals or counseling agencies, 3% (2/63) were by government or local Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for general information, and 2% (1/63) for students of a university. Major built-in features of the apps included counseling services, mental health education, and self-assessment of mental health status by validated self-rating scales. The overall quality score of the MH apps was <italic>acceptable.</italic> CONCLUSIONS Mental health apps are emerging in the area of mobile health in China. Popular mental health apps usually provide a synthetic platform organizing resources of information, knowledge, counseling services, self-tests, and management for the general population with mental health-related inquiries. The quality of the apps was rated as <italic>acceptable</italic> on average, suggesting some space for improvement. Official guidelines and regulations are urgently required for the field in the future.

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The Mobile App Development and Assessment Guide (MAG): Delphi-Based Validity Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.17760 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Pere Llorens-Vernet ◽

Jordi Miró

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Online Survey ◽

End Users ◽

Mobile App ◽

Health Apps ◽

App Development ◽

Mobile Health Apps

BACKGROUND In recent years, there has been an exponential growth of mobile health (mHealth)–related apps. This has occurred in a somewhat unsupervised manner. Therefore, having a set of criteria that could be used by all stakeholders to guide the development process and the assessment of the quality of the apps is of most importance. OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper is to study the validity of the Mobile App Development and Assessment Guide (MAG), a guide recently created to help stakeholders develop and assess mobile health apps. METHODS To conduct a validation process of the MAG, we used the Delphi method to reach a consensus among participating stakeholders. We identified 158 potential participants: 45 patients as potential end users, 41 health care professionals, and 72 developers. We sent participants an online survey and asked them to rate how important they considered each item in the guide to be on a scale from 0 to 10. Two rounds were enough to reach consensus. RESULTS In the first round, almost one-third (n=42) of those invited participated, and half of those (n=24) also participated in the second round. Most items in the guide were found to be important to a quality mHealth-related app; a total of 48 criteria were established as important. “Privacy,” “security,” and “usability” were the categories that included most of the important criteria. CONCLUSIONS The data supports the validity of the MAG. In addition, the findings identified the criteria that stakeholders consider to be most important. The MAG will help advance the field by providing developers, health care professionals, and end users with a valid guide so that they can develop and identify mHealth-related apps that are of quality.

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The Mobile App Development and Assessment Guide (MAG): Delphi-Based Validity Study

JMIR mhealth and uhealth ◽

10.2196/17760 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (7) ◽

pp. e17760 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Pere Llorens-Vernet ◽

Jordi Miró

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Online Survey ◽

End Users ◽

Mobile App ◽

Health Apps ◽

App Development ◽

Mobile Health Apps

Background In recent years, there has been an exponential growth of mobile health (mHealth)–related apps. This has occurred in a somewhat unsupervised manner. Therefore, having a set of criteria that could be used by all stakeholders to guide the development process and the assessment of the quality of the apps is of most importance. Objective The aim of this paper is to study the validity of the Mobile App Development and Assessment Guide (MAG), a guide recently created to help stakeholders develop and assess mobile health apps. Methods To conduct a validation process of the MAG, we used the Delphi method to reach a consensus among participating stakeholders. We identified 158 potential participants: 45 patients as potential end users, 41 health care professionals, and 72 developers. We sent participants an online survey and asked them to rate how important they considered each item in the guide to be on a scale from 0 to 10. Two rounds were enough to reach consensus. Results In the first round, almost one-third (n=42) of those invited participated, and half of those (n=24) also participated in the second round. Most items in the guide were found to be important to a quality mHealth-related app; a total of 48 criteria were established as important. “Privacy,” “security,” and “usability” were the categories that included most of the important criteria. Conclusions The data supports the validity of the MAG. In addition, the findings identified the criteria that stakeholders consider to be most important. The MAG will help advance the field by providing developers, health care professionals, and end users with a valid guide so that they can develop and identify mHealth-related apps that are of quality.

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Quality Assessment Criteria for Mobile Health Apps: A Systematic Review

Walailak Journal of Science and Technology (WJST) ◽

10.48048/wjst.2020.6482 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (8) ◽

pp. 745-759

Author(s):

Wilasinee HONGSANUN ◽

Suppachai INSUK

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Quality Assessment ◽

Mobile Health ◽

User Satisfaction ◽

Ease Of Use ◽

Security And Privacy ◽

Assessment Criteria ◽

Health Apps ◽

Mobile Health Apps

Summative evidences on the criteria for user assessment of health apps are still limited. In order to determine an assessment method for mobile health apps, rigorous and appropriate criteria must be chosen. The aim of this study is to review the existing quality assessment criteria that are being used to assess the quality of mobile health apps focusing on users’ perspectives. In addition, a procedure for the quality assessment of health apps is also presented. A systematic review was conducted utilizing 5 databases; PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, CENTRAL and IEEE Xplore from 2008 to 2017. Search terms were; “mHealth”, “Applications”, “iOS OR Android”, “smartphones”, “quality”, etc. Papers that assessed the quality of health apps by users were selected. The PRISMA guideline was followed to complete the list of final studies. Likewise, a data extraction form was based on the PICO framework. From 6,514 studies, 69 studies met the eligibility criteria. Four hundred and forty-one quality assessment criteria for users were classified into 15 domains: Ease of use, Usability, Aesthetics, Connectivity, Functionality, Information, User satisfaction, Acceptability, Error occurrence, Motivation, Engagement, Data management, Undesirable events, Credentials and Security and privacy. An “ease of use” domain was found common in the included studies. The 15 domains were suggested as criteria for further study of the quality assessment and development of mHealth apps. Moreover, five recommended steps were presented for future research of quality of mobile health apps.

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Telepsychiatry for the Rohingya refugees (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.11494 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Tanjir Rashid Soron

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Service ◽

Health Service ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Social Networking Sites ◽

Health Workers ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

The Social ◽

Health Need

UNSTRUCTURED Though health and shelter are two basic human rights, millions of refugees around the world are deprived of these basic needs. Moreover, the mental health need is one of least priority issues for the refugees. Bangladesh a developing country in the Southeast Asia where the health system is fragile and the sudden influx of thousands of Rohingya put the system in a more critical situation. It is beyond the capacity of the country to provide the minimum mental health care using existing resource. However, the refuges need immediate and extensive mental health care as the trauma, torture and being uprooted from homeland makes them vulnerable for various mental. Telepsychiatry (using technology for mental health service) opened a new window to provide mental health service for them. Mobile phone opened several options to reach to the refugees, screen them with mobile apps, connect them with self-help apps and system, track their symptoms, provide distance intervention and train the frontline health workers about the primary psychological supports. The social networking sites give the opportunity to connect the refugees with experts, create peer support group and provide interventions. Bangladesh can explore and can use the telepsychiatry to provide mental health service to the rohingya people.

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Depressions Plural

10.1093/oso/9780198801900.003.0014 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

K W M (Bill) Fulford ◽

David Crepaz-Keay ◽

Giovanni Stanghellini

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Personal Values ◽

The Political ◽

Medical Law ◽

Isaiah Berlin ◽

Political Philosopher

This chapter examines how values influence the heterogeneity of depression. The plurality of values is increasingly significant for contemporary person-centred mental health care with its emphasis on quality of life and development of self-manvnagement skills. Values-based practice is a partner with medical law invn working with the plurality of personal values. The chapter explains what values are, shows how the plurality of values influences the heterogeneity of depression at several levels, and provides an overview of values-based practice. It looks at the resources available for combining values-based practice with medical law in contemporary person-centred care and indicates some of the challenges this raises. It concludes with a brief reflection on these challenges understood as an instance of what the political philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the challenge of pluralism.

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The Quality Mental Health Care Network: A roadmap to improving quality mental healthcare in Canada

Healthcare Management Forum ◽

10.1177/0840470420974713 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 100-106

Author(s):

Emily J. Follwell ◽

Siri Chunduri ◽

Claire Samuelson-Kiraly ◽

Nicholas Watters ◽

Jonathan I. Mitchell

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Mental Healthcare ◽

Care Network ◽

Key Informant ◽

Health Care Network

Although there are numerous quality of care frameworks, little attention has been given to the essential concepts that encompass quality mental healthcare. HealthCare CAN and the Mental Health Commission of Canada co-lead the Quality Mental Health Care Network (QMHCN), which has developed a quality mental healthcare framework, building on existing provincial, national, and international frameworks. HealthCare CAN conducted an environmental scan, key informant interviews, and focus groups with individuals with lived experiences to develop the framework. This article outlines the findings from this scan, interviews and focus groups.

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Quality Assessment of Ethics in Health Care: The Accountability Revolution

American Journal of Law & Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0098858800006456 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 20 (1-2) ◽

pp. 105-128

Author(s):

Susan M. Wolf

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

World War Ii ◽

Quality Assessment ◽

Central Place ◽

World War ◽

New Era ◽

The Third ◽

Cost Cutting ◽

Global Budgeting

Writing in 1988, Arnold Relman heralded the dawning of the “third revolution“ in medical care. The first revolution, at the end of World War II, had inaugurated an Era of Expansion, with an explosion of hospitals, physicians, and research. Medicare and Medicaid were passed, and medicine experienced a golden age of growth. Inevitably, according to Relman, this yielded to an Era of Cost Containment starting in the 1970s. The federal government and private employers revolted against soaring costs, brandishing the weapons of prospective payment, managed care, and global budgeting. Yet these blunt instruments of cost-cutting eventually produced concern over how to evaluate the quality of health care, to promote the good while trimming the bad. Thus Relman announced the arrival of the Era of Assessment and Accountability.This chronology helps explain the current importance of quality. Quality assessment and more recently, quality improvement techniques, occupy a central place in this new era.

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Improving the Quality of Children’s Mental Health Care with Progress Measures: A Mixed-Methods Study of PCIT Therapist Attitudes

Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research ◽

10.1007/s10488-021-01156-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Corinna C. Klein ◽

B. Erika Luis Sanchez ◽

Miya L. Barnett

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

General Practice ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Behavioral Observation ◽

Parent Report ◽

Therapist Attitudes ◽

Child Interaction ◽

Report Measure

AbstractProgress measures are an evidence-based technique for improving the quality of mental health care, however, clinicians rarely incorporate them into treatment. Research into how measure type impacts clinician preference has been recommended to help improve measure implementation. Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an assessment-driven treatment that serves as an ideal intervention through which to investigate measure preferences given its routine use of two types of assessments, a behavioral observation (the Dyadic Parent–Child Interaction Coding System) and a parent-report measure (the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory). This study investigated PCIT therapist attitudes towards progress measures used within PCIT and children’s mental health treatment generally. A mixed-method (QUAN + QUAL) study design examined PCIT therapist attitudes towards two types of progress measures and measures used in two contexts (PCIT and general practice). Multi-level modeling of a survey distributed to 324 PCIT therapists identified predictors of therapist attitudes towards measures, while qualitative interviews with 23 therapists expanded and clarified the rationale for differing perceptions. PCIT therapists reported more positive attitudes towards a behavioral observation measure, the DPICS, than a parent-report measure, the ECBI, and towards measures used in PCIT than in general practice. Clinician race/ethnicity was significantly related to measure-specific attitudes. Qualitative interviews highlighted how perceptions of measure reliability, type of data offered, ease of use, utility in guiding sessions and motivating clients, and embeddedness in treatment protocol impact therapist preferences. Efforts to implement progress monitoring should consider preferences for particular types of measures, as well as how therapists are trained to embed measures in treatment.

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