Development of an mHealth Application for Women Newly Diagnosed with Osteoporosis without Preceding Fractures: A Participatory Design Approach

Pernille Ravn Jakobsen, Anne Pernille Hermann, Jens Søndergaard, Uffe Kock Wiil and Jane Clemensen
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Pernille Ravn Jakobsen: Center for Innovative Medical Technology, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Anne Pernille Hermann: Department of Endocrinology, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Jens Søndergaard: Department of Public Health, Research Unit of General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Uffe Kock Wiil: Center for Innovative Medical Technology, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Jane Clemensen: Center for Innovative Medical Technology, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, Denmark

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: mHealth is a useful tool to improve health outcome within chronic disease management. However, mHealth is not implemented in the field of postmenopausal osteoporosis even though it is a major worldwide health challenge. Therefore, this study aims to design and develop an mHealth app to support women in self-management of osteoporosis when they are diagnosed without preceding fractures. Participatory design is conducted in three phases. Based on identified needs in the first phase, a prototype is designed and developed in an iterative process in the second phase before the mHealth app is tested in the third phase. This paper focuses on the user activities in phase two and describes how a team of researchers, women, physicians, healthcare professionals, and app designers are involved in the participatory design process. The study shows that participatory design is a viable approach when developing an mHealth app for women with asymptomatic osteoporosis. Results obtained from the workshops and laboratory tests demonstrate the importance of feedback from users in the iterative process, as well as the participation of users and app designers in workshops and laboratory tests to enable mutual learning when developing new mHealth solutions. The regular member-checks and involvement of users helped to identify challenges associated with providing healthcare services through an app.

Keywords: mHealth; application; app; participatory design; osteoporosis; women (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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