Implementing Health Apps for Digital Public Health – An Implementation Science Approach Adopting the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research
Open accessAbstract
Apps are becoming an increasingly important component of modern Public Health and health care. However, successful implementation of apps does not come without challenges. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) provides a central typology to support the development of implementation theories and the examination of what works where and why in different contexts. The framework offers a reasonable structure for managing complex, interacting, multi-level, and transient states of constructs in the real world: It draws on constructs from other implementation theories and might be used to conduct formative evaluations or build a common body of knowledge for implementation thru various studies and settings. In a synthesis of the original English language text describing the CFIR, an attempt was made to break the constructs down into the shortest possible concise descriptions for the implementation of health care apps in a structured, selective process. The listed key constructs should help to develop successful implementation plans and models for health apps and show the complexity of a successful implementation. As a perspective article, the aim of the current piece is to present a viewpoint on using the CFIR as a potential support for implementing health apps.
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The sustainability of digital health interventions, particularly with limited public health funding, remains challenging.
“The sustainability of digital health interventions, particularly with limited public health funding, remains challenging [141,142].”
From Development and Evaluation of a Smartphone-Based Chatbot Coach to Facilitate a Balanced Lifestyle in Individuals With Headaches (BalanceUP App): Randomized Controlled Trial (2024) · cites this paper as [142]
The Introduction describes difficulties implementing effective health apps in routine care, and the CFIR adaptation identifies costs and resource availability as implementation factors. These passages support a general concern about sustaining digital health interventions, but the paper does not specifically say that limited public health funding makes their sustainability challenging. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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- Authors
- Wienert, J., & Zeeb, H.
- Affiliations
- Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS (DE)
- University of Bremen (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Wienert, Julian
- Venue
- Frontiers in Public Health
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2021-05-07
- Volume
- 9
- Pages
- 610237-610237
- ISSN
- 2296-2565 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8137849
- OpenAlex
- W3163467057
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 6.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Informationszentrum Lebenswissenschaften (ZB MED) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Freie Hansestadt Bremen
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (W4/2018)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Policy Implementation Science
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- health apps, digital public health, Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, implementation science, implementation theory, implementation planning, mobile health, formative assessment
- MeSH terms
- Implementation Science, Delivery of Health Care, Public Health
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