Kevin Anderson|Oksana Burford|Lynne Emmerton
Mobile Health Apps to Facilitate Self-Care: A Qualitative Study of User Experiences
Curtin University|Curtin University|Curtin University
consumers living longer creating pressure health system increasing requirement selfcare chronic conditions despite rapidlyincreasing numbers mobile health applications apps consumers selfcare paucity research consumer engagement electronic selfmonitoring paper presents qualitative exploration health consumers use apps health monitoring perceived benefits use health apps suggestions improvement health appshealth app defined commerciallyavailable health fitness app capacity selfmonitoring englishspeaking consumers aged 18 years older using health app selfmonitoring recruited interview metropolitan area perth australia semistructured interview guide comprised questions based technology acceptance model health information technology acceptance model mobile application rating scale study models also facilitated deductive thematic analysis interview transcripts implicit explicit responses aligned models analyzed inductivelytwentytwo consumers 15 female seven male participated 13 aged 2635 years eighteen participants reported apps used iphones apps used monitor diabetes asthma depression celiac disease blood pressure chronic migraine pain management menstrual cycle irregularity fitness used approximately weekly several minutes per session prior meeting initial milestones significantly decreased usage thereafter deductive inductive thematic analysis reduced data four dominant themes engagement use app technical functionality app ease use design features management consumers datathe semistructured interviews provided insight usage benefits challenges health monitoring using apps understanding range consumer experiences expectations inform design health apps encourage persistence selfmonitoring