Communicating “What's Not Said”

Technologies designed to access our personal worlds have the potential to profoundly influence the way we live and to promote human flourishing. They also require an ethical approach to their design that takes human values into account. Mobile technologies for psychological wellbeing present particular challenges that require a sustainable approach to ethical reflection from early in the design process. This paper offers insights into ethical approaches to design, through projects that explore the potential for using mobile apps for reporting psychological wellbeing. It reports on feedback from a focus group with valuable insights for app design in particular contexts of use that help to inform discourse more generally around designing technologies for wellbeing. The discussion focuses on the practical and cultural issues that arise and explores how technologies can mediate self-knowledge and information in ways that might otherwise remain unsaid, but is crucial for successful outcomes both clinically and in design.

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Serious Games and Gamified Tools for Psychological Intervention

Virtual and Augmented Reality ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-5469-1.ch031 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 654-679

Author(s):

Unai Diaz-Orueta

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Serious Games ◽

Psychological Intervention ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Behavioral Assessment ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Psychological Wellbeing ◽

Psychological Interventions ◽

Self Help ◽

Technological Advances

Mobile technologies and technological advances in behavioral assessment have found their way in common healthcare practices. However, there are still few studies about videogame-based interventions to support concrete psychological treatments. While the market for self-help mobile apps is continuously increasing, in most cases, they are a mere digitalization of texts contained in self-help books and do not take advantage of the interactive and playful potential of devices on which they are offered. Nevertheless, a number of health games have been developed for children and adults for a variety of therapeutic purposes. The current chapter provides an overview of the state-of-the-art serious games currently available as psychological interventions across popular delivery formats (virtual reality environments, online and PC videogames). Where available, evidence about their efficacy is reported. These serious games have the potential to complement traditional psychological interventions and improve psychological wellbeing for people of all ages.

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Serious Games and Gamified Tools for Psychological Intervention

Integrating Technology in Positive Psychology Practice - Advances in Psychology, Mental Health, and Behavioral Studies ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-9986-1.ch013 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 290-314 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Unai Diaz-Orueta

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Serious Games ◽

Psychological Intervention ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Behavioral Assessment ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Psychological Wellbeing ◽

Psychological Interventions ◽

Self Help ◽

Technological Advances

Mobile technologies and technological advances in behavioral assessment have found their way in common healthcare practices. However, there are still few studies about videogame-based interventions to support concrete psychological treatments. While the market for self-help mobile apps is continuously increasing, in most cases, they are a mere digitalization of texts contained in self-help books and do not take advantage of the interactive and playful potential of devices on which they are offered. Nevertheless, a number of health games have been developed for children and adults for a variety of therapeutic purposes. The current chapter provides an overview of the state-of-the-art serious games currently available as psychological interventions across popular delivery formats (virtual reality environments, online and PC videogames). Where available, evidence about their efficacy is reported. These serious games have the potential to complement traditional psychological interventions and improve psychological wellbeing for people of all ages.

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New and Emerging Mobile Technologies for Healthcare (mHealth): A Horizon Scanning Study

Frontiers in Health Informatics ◽

10.30699/fhi.v8i1.196 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 17

Author(s):

Azar Kazemi ◽

Hosna Salmani ◽

Alireza Shakibafard ◽

Farhad Fatehi

Keyword(s):

Health Services ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Preventive Health Services ◽

Target Population ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Full Potential ◽

Public And Private ◽

Innovative Technologies ◽

Horizon Scanning ◽

The Impact

Introduction: The popularity of mobile phone applications (Apps) and wearable devices for medical and health purposes is on the rise, but not all the mobile health (mHealth) innovative solutions that hit the news every day will sustain and have an impact on the health of people. The aim of this news-based horizon scanning study was to explore and identify new and emerging mobile technologies that are likely to impact the future of health and medical care.Methods: We conducted a systematic search on top ranking technology websites, according to Alexa Ranking, to identify health-related mobile-based technologies. We followed the EuroScan guide for horizon scanning, which recommends four steps: identification, filtering, prioritization, evaluation and conclusion. Technologies of interest were mHealth technologies regardless of their maturity level. The impact of technologies was assessed and scored in four areas: user, technology, safety, and cost.Results: Five hundred news articles were identified through the electronic search. After screening, 106 mHealth innovative technologies were included in this study. We categorized the included technologies into three groups: mobile apps (n=37), smart-connected devices (n=19), and wearables (n=50). mHealth technologies were most frequently developed for preventive health services, mental health services and rehabilitation services. There was no remarkable difference between the technology groups in terms of safety and adverse effects, but the groups were significantly different in terms of the target population, technology, and cost.Conclusion: An increasing number of solutions based on mobile technology is being developed by both public and private sectors but a low proportion of them undergo proper scientific evaluations. Despite the commercial availability of many innovative mobile apps, wearables, and smart connected devices, few of them have been actually used in clinics, hospitals, and health centers. There is a clear need for changes in healthcare service models to unlock the full potential of these innovative technologies.

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Opportunities for Mobile App–Based Adherence Support for Children With Tuberculosis in South Africa

JMIR mhealth and uhealth ◽

10.2196/19154 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (11) ◽

pp. e19154

Author(s):

Rachel M Morse ◽

Hanlie Myburgh ◽

David Reubi ◽

Ava E Archey ◽

Leletu Busakwe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Treatment Adherence ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Mobile App ◽

Tuberculosis Treatment ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Patient Treatment ◽

Pilot Studies ◽

Adherence Support ◽

Positive Treatment

Tuberculosis is the number one infectious cause of death globally. Young children, generally those younger than 5 years, are at the highest risk of progressing from tuberculosis infection to tuberculosis disease and of developing the most severe forms of tuberculosis. Most current tuberculosis drug formulations have poor acceptability among children and require consistent adherence for prolonged periods of time. These challenges complicate children’s adherence to treatment and caregivers’ daily administration of the drugs. Rapid developments in mobile technologies and apps present opportunities for using widely available technology to support national tuberculosis programs and patient treatment adherence. Pilot studies have demonstrated that mobile apps are a feasible and acceptable means of enhancing children’s treatment adherence for other chronic conditions. Despite this, no mobile apps that aim to promote adherence to tuberculosis treatment have been developed for children. In this paper, we draw on our experiences carrying out research in clinical pediatric tuberculosis studies in South Africa. We present hypothetical scenarios of children’s adherence to tuberculosis medication to suggest priorities for behavioral and educational strategies that a mobile app could incorporate to address some of the adherence support gaps faced by children diagnosed with tuberculosis. We argue that a mobile app has the potential to lessen some of the negative experiences that children associate with taking tuberculosis treatment and to facilitate a more positive treatment adherence experience for children and their caregivers.

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Cloud and Mobile

Modern Software Engineering Methodologies for Mobile and Cloud Environments - Advances in Systems Analysis, Software Engineering, and High Performance Computing ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-9916-8.ch001 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 1-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Antonio Miguel Rosado da Cruz ◽

Sara Paiva

Keyword(s):

Cloud Computing ◽

Mobile Computing ◽

Mobile Devices ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Future Research ◽

Mobile Cloud ◽

Research Projects ◽

Research Directions ◽

Future Research Directions

Mobile computing and Cloud computing are two of the most growing technologies in number of users, practitioners and research projects. This chapter surveys mobile technologies and applications, along with cloud computing technologies and applications, presenting their evolution and characteristics. Then, building on mobile devices limitations and mobile apps increasing need of resources, and on the cloud computing ability to overcome those limitations, the chapter presents mobile cloud computing, and characterizes it by addressing approaches to augment mobile devices capabilities. The chapter is settled after some views about future research directions and some concluding remarks.

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MOBILE-APPS questionnaire: Developing and validating a scale to measure the attitudes and perceptions of undergraduate students on mobile information literacy

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science ◽

10.1177/0961000620902260 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 52 (4) ◽

pp. 1063-1072

Author(s):

Maria Pinto ◽

David Caballero ◽

Dora Sales ◽

Rosaura Fernández-Pascual

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Information Literacy ◽

Student Attitudes ◽

Scale Validation ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Internal Validity ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Attitudes And Perceptions ◽

Mobile Information ◽

Teaching Learning

This paper aims at reflecting on the process of developing and validating a scale for measuring the students’ attitudes and perceptions regarding the use of mobile technologies in the teaching-learning of information competencies (MOBILE-APPS). Validation was carried out by administering the questionnaire to a pilot group of students, selected from Education degree, with a rubric to analyse the quality/coherence, clarity and usefulness of the content. The questionnaire was then piloted with a larger sample of students. To analyse the tool’s reliability and internal validity, scale validation techniques and exploratory factorial analysis were used. The resulting questionnaire, MOBILE-APPS, is a simple yet effective scale for collecting information. It can be applied in a number of university settings and degrees to ascertain student attitudes and perceptions of mobile information literacy.

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Persuasive Apps for Sustainable Waste Management: A Comparative Systematic Evaluation of Behavior Change Strategies and State-of-the-Art

Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence ◽

10.3389/frai.2021.748454 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Author(s):

Makuochi Nkwo ◽

Banuchitra Suruliraj ◽

Rita Orji

Keyword(s):

Waste Management ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Systematic Evaluation ◽

Sustainable Waste Management ◽

Self Monitoring ◽

Task Support ◽

Target Behaviors ◽

Persuasive Strategies ◽

Do It Yourself

With the proliferation of ubiquitous computing and mobile technologies, mobile apps are tailored to support users to perform target behaviors in various domains, including a sustainable future. This article provides a systematic evaluation of mobile apps for sustainable waste management to deconstruct and compare the persuasive strategies employed and their implementations. Specifically, it targeted apps that support various sustainable waste management activities such as personal tracking, recycling, conference management, data collection, food waste management, do-it-yourself (DIY) projects, games, etc. The authors who are persuasive technology researchers retrieved a total of 244 apps from App Store and Google Play, out of which 148 apps were evaluated. Two researchers independently analyzed and coded the apps and a third researcher was involved to resolve any disagreement. They coded the apps based on the persuasive strategies of the persuasive system design framework. Overall, the findings uncover that out of the 148 sustainable waste management apps evaluated, primary task support was the most employed category by 89% (n = 131) apps, followed by system credibility support implemented by 76% (n = 112) apps. The dialogue support was implemented by 71% (n = 105) apps and social support was the least utilized strategy by 34% (n = 51) apps. Specifically, Reduction (n = 97), personalization (n = 90), real-world feel (n = 83), surface credibility (n = 83), reminder (n = 73), and self-monitoring (n = 50) were the most commonly employed persuasive strategies. The findings established that there is a significant association between the number of persuasive strategies employed and the apps’ effectiveness as indicated by user ratings of the apps. How the apps are implemented differs depending on the kind of sustainable waste management activities it was developed for. Based on the findings, this paper offers design implications for personalizing sustainable waste management apps to improve their persuasiveness and effectiveness.

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Exploration of user�s perspectives and needs and design of a type 1 diabetes management mobile app: mixed-methods study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.11393 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Yiyu Zhang ◽

Xia Li ◽

Shuoming Luo ◽

Chaoyuan Liu ◽

Fang Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Diabetes Management ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Diabetes Education ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Mobile App ◽

Patient Questionnaires ◽

App Design ◽

Doctor Communication

BACKGROUND With the popularity of smart phones, mobile apps have great potential for the management of diabetes, but the effectiveness of current diabetes apps for T1DM is poor. No study has explored the reasons from the user’s perspective. OBJECTIVE To explore the perspectives and needs of T1DM patients and diabetes experts concerning diabetes app and to design a new T1DM management mobile app. METHODS A mixed methods design combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews was used to explore user needs and perspectives. Experts were surveyed at two diabetes conferences using paper questionnaires. T1DM patients were surveyed using Sojump on a network. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with adult T1DM patients or parents of child patients who had ever used diabetes apps. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and coded for theme identification. RESULTS The expert response rate was 63.5% (127/200). They thought that the reasons for app invalidity were that patients did not stick to using the app (76.4%, 97/127), little guidance was received from health care professionals (HCPs) (73.2%, 93/127), diabetes education knowledge was unsystematic (52.8% 67/127) and the app functions were incomplete (44.1%, 56/127). A total of 245 T1DM patient questionnaires were collected, of which 21.2% (52/245) of the respondents had used diabetes apps. The reasons for their reluctance to use an app were limited time (39%, 20/52), complicated operations (25%, 13/52), uselessness (25%, 13/52) and cost (25%, 13/52). Both the experts and patients thought that the most important functions of the app were patient-doctor communication and diabetes diary. Two themes that were useful for app design were identified from the interviews: (1) problems with patients’ diabetes self-management and (2) problems with current apps. Additionally, needs and suggestions for a diabetes app were obtained. CONCLUSIONS Patient-doctor communication is the most important function of a diabetes app. Apps should be integrated with HCPs rather than stand alone. We advocate that doctors follow up with their patients using diabetes app. Our user-centered method explored comprehensively and deeply why the effectiveness of current diabetes apps for T1DM was poor and what T1DM patients needed for a diabetes app, and provided meaningful guidance for app design.

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Prescription and Integration of Accredited Mobile Apps in Catalan Health and Social Care: Protocol for the AppSalut Site Design (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.11414 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Francesc López Seguí ◽

Carme Pratdepàdua Bufill ◽

Ariadna Rius Soler ◽

Marc de San Pedro ◽

Bernat López Truño ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Data Storage ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Public Health Practice ◽

Public Library ◽

Global Perspective ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Care Protocol ◽

Health And Social Care

BACKGROUND The use of new mobile technologies in the health and social welfare sectors is already a reality. The ICT Social Health Foundation, in accordance with the technology strategy of the Catalan government’s Ministry of Health and its Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Families, is leading an initiative to create a public library of apps for its AppSalut Site. OBJECTIVE The objective of this paper is to present an account of the design of the project, with a global perspective, applied to the Catalan ecosystem, which can be divided into 3 areas: the framework governing the recommendation and prescription of apps, the subset of interoperability for mobile environments, and the data storage infrastructure. METHODS The security and credibility of the apps included in the catalog is ensured by submitting them to an accreditation process in the public domain that provides users with the guarantee that they are fit for purpose and trustworthy for the management and care of their health, while providing health care professionals with the possibility of recommending the apps in the doctor’s surgery, as well as adding the information generated by the users’ mobile devices to the information systems of the various organizations concerned. RESULTS An examination of the abovementioned areas suggests possibilities for improvements in the future. The experience obtained from the development of this element has shown the heterogeneity of the vocabularies used, as expected, due to the lack of awareness on the part of the developers regarding the need to standardize the information generated by the app, requiring the foundation to take on the role of consultant. CONCLUSIONS The project has evolved in keeping with changes in the technological and social paradigm and responds very satisfactorily to the needs posed to it. It can be seen as a landmark experience in mobile strategies in the fields of health and welfare of any public health system. The experience has shown itself to be feasible in organizational terms, necessary in any attempt to integrate mobile technologies into public health practice, and a global pioneer in the field. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPOR RR1-10.2196/11414

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