JMIR Human Factors

Health care providers can make health guidance more effective by using mobile health technologies such as health apps. Although health care providers need to know who uses health apps, existing studies have yielded inconsistent results.

While patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) is now seen as a cornerstone of mental health research, young people’s involvement in PPIE faces limitations. Work and school demands, and more limited independence can make it challenging for young people to engage with PPIE. Lack of ability or desire to attend face-to-face meetings or group discussions can further compound this difficulty. The VoiceIn app and digital platform was co-developed by a multidisciplinary team of young people, mental health researchers and software designers and is the first digital tool that enables young people to engage directly with PPIE opportunities via a mobile app.

The emergence and integration of mobile healthcare technology have fundamentally transformed the healthcare industry, providing unprecedented opportunities to improve healthcare services and professional practice. Despite its immense potential, the adoption of mobile healthcare technology among healthcare professionals remains uneven, particularly in developing regions.

Digital health interventions (DHIs) could support prevention and management of cardiometabolic disease. However, those who may benefit most often experience barriers to awareness and adoption of these interventions.

Secondary prevention is an important strategy to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD), a leading cause of death worldwide. Despite the growing evidence for the effectiveness of digital health interventions (DHIs) for the secondary prevention of CVD, the majority are designed with minimal input from target end users, resulting in poor uptake and usage.

Advancements in technology offer new opportunities to support vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and women diagnosed with breast cancer, during physiologically and psychologically stressful periods.

Sepsis is a common cause of serious illness and death. Sepsis management remains challenging and suboptimal. To support rapid sepsis diagnosis and treatment, screening tools have been embedded into hospital digital systems to appear as digital alerts. The implementation of digital alerts to improve the management of sepsis and deterioration is a complex intervention that has to fit with team workflow and the views and practices of hospital staff. Despite the importance of human decision-making and behavior in optimal implementation, there are limited qualitative studies that explore the views and experiences of health care professionals regarding digital alerts as sepsis or deterioration computerized clinician decision support systems (CCDSSs).

Sex workers face an epidemic of violence in the United States. However, violence against sex workers (VASW) in the United States is underreported. Sex workers hesitate to report to police because they are frequently punished; therefore an alternative for reporting is needed.

As Japan is the world’s fastest-aging society with a declining population, it is challenging to secure human resources for care providers. Therefore, the Japanese government is promoting digital transformation and the use of nursing care equipment, including non-wearable devices that monitor heart and respiratory rates. However, the feasibility of monitoring heart and respiratory rates with non-wearable devices and the consistency of the rates measured have not been reported.

As a reaction to the global demographic increase in older adults (aged 60+ years), policy makers call for initiatives to enable healthy aging. This includes a focus on person-centered care and access to long-term care for older adults, such as developing different services and digital health technologies. This can enable patients to engage in their health and reduce the burden on the health care systems and health care professionals. The European Union project Smart Inclusive Living Environments (SMILE) focuses on well-being and aging in place using new digital health technologies. The novelty of the SMILE project is the use of a cocreational approach focused on the needs and preferences of older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in technology development, to enhance access, adaptation, and usability and to reduce stigma.

Virtual Reality (VR) group activities can be one intervention against inactivity and lack of meaningful activities in nursing homes. The acceptance of VR among older adults has been explored from different perspectives. However, research on the impact of older adults´ individual characteristics on the acceptance of VR group activity in nursing home is necessary.

Maternal and child health outcomes are positively influenced by early intervention, and digital health (DH) tools provide the potential for a low-cost and scalable solution such as informational platforms or digital tracking tools. Despite the wide availability of DH tools out there for women from before to after pregnancy, user engagement remains low.