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Cited by 92Mobile Health and mHealth ApplicationsDigital Mental Health InterventionsInnovative Human-Technology Interaction

Young people’s preferences for an asthma self-management app highlight psychological needs: a participatory study

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Peters, Dorian, Davis, Sharon, Calvo, Rafael Alejandro, Sawyer, Susan M, Smith, Lorraine, Foster, Juliet M·2017·Journal of Medical Internet Research
DOI 10.2196/jmir.6994PMC PMC5405288
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although the prevalence of mental illness among young people with asthma is known to be twice the rate of the wider population, none of the asthma apps reported have acknowledged or attempted to include psychological support features. This is perhaps because user involvement in the development of asthma apps has been scarce. User involvement, facilitated by participatory design methods, can begin to address these issues while contributing insights to our understanding of the psychological experience associated with asthma and how technology might improve quality of life. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this participatory user research study was to explore the experience, needs, and ideas of young people with asthma while allowing them to define requirements for an asthma app that would be engaging and effective at improving their well-being. METHODS: Young people aged 15-24 years with doctor-diagnosed asthma were invited to participate in a participatory workshop and to complete a workbook designed to elicit their thoughts and ideas about living with asthma, technology use, and the design of an app. Participants generated a number of artifacts (including collages, concept maps, and paper prototypes) designed to reify their ideas, tacit knowledge, and experience. RESULTS: A total of 20 participants (mean age 17.8 years; 60%, 12/20 female) representing a range from inadequately to well-controlled asthma completed a workbook and 13 of these also took part in a workshop (four workshops were held in total), resulting in 102 participant-generated artifacts. Theoretical thematic analysis resulted in a set of personal needs, feature ideas, and app characteristics considered relevant by young people for an asthma support app. The data revealed that psychological factors such as anxiety, and impediments to autonomy, competence, and relatedness (as consistent with self-determination theory [SDT]), were considered major influences on quality of life by young people with asthma. Furthermore, the incorporation of features pertaining to psychological experience was particularly valued by participants. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to practical features for asthma management, an app for young people with asthma should include support for the mental health factors associated with lived experience (ie, anxiety, lack of autonomy, and social disconnectedness). We show how support for these factors can be translated into design features of an app for asthma. In addition to informing the development of asthma-support technologies for young people, these findings could have implications for technologies designed to support people with chronic illness more generally.

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  • This intervention format is well received by adolescents dealing with physical health issues.

    “or physical health issues (92).”

    From Mobile intervention for individuals with psychosis, dual disorders, and their common comorbidities: A literature review (2019) · cites this paper as [92]

    The Results section, “User Feedback on a Prototype” (page unavailable), reports highly positive feedback from nine young people with asthma; all said they would recommend the app to a friend. This supports a positive reception for an asthma-app prototype, but not the broader claim about adolescents with physical health issues generally or a tested intervention. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [27]Ryan RM Deci EL Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. 1st ed 2017 New York The Guilford Press
  2. [30]Calvo R Peters D Johnson D Rogers Y Autonomy in Technology Design CHI2014 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2014 The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 26-May 1 Toronto New York ACM
  3. [31]Muller MJ Sears A Jacko JA Participatory design: the third space in HCI Human-Computer Interaction: Development Process 2003 Boca Raton, FL CRC Press 165 185

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Authors
Peters, D., Davis, S., Calvo, R. A., Sawyer, S. M., Smith, L., & Foster, J. M.
Affiliations
  • The University of Sydney (AU)
  • Royal Children's Hospital (AU)
Corresponding author
Peters, Dorian
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Publisher
JMIR Publications Inc.
Published
2017-04-11
Volume
19
Issue
4
Pages
e113
ISSN
1438-8871 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2196/jmir.6994
PMC
PMC5405288
OpenAlex
W2605961726
Cited by
92
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 2
FWCI
20.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Journal of Medical Internet Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Asthma Australia
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
Keywords
asthma, youth, psychological needs, self-determination theory, anxiety, autonomy, disconnection, participatory design, user participation, mental health, chronic disease, quality of life, app design features
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Asthma, Female, Health Services Needs and Demand, Humans, Male, Quality of Life, Self Care, Young Adult, Patient Preference, Mobile Applications

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