JMIR mHealth and uHealth

The benefits of involving those with lived experience in the design and development of health technology are well recognized, and the reporting of co-design best practices has increased over the past decade. However, it is important to recognize that the methods and protocols behind patient and public involvement and co-design vary depending on the patient population accessed. This is especially important when considering individuals living with cognitive impairments, such as dementia, who are likely to have needs and experiences unique to their cognitive capabilities. We worked alongside individuals living with dementia and their care partners to co-design a mobile health app. This app aimed to address a gap in our knowledge of how cognition fluctuates over short, microlongitudinal timescales. The app requires users to interact with built-in memory tests multiple times per day, meaning that co-designing a platform that is easy to use, accessible, and appealing is particularly important. Here, we discuss our use of Agile methodology to enable those living with dementia and their care partners to be actively involved in the co-design of a mobile health app.

The world is aging. The number of older patients is on the rise, and along with it comes the burden of noncommunicable diseases, both clinical and economic. Attempts with mobile health (mHealth) have been made to remedy the situation with promising outcomes. Researchers have adopted human-centered design (HCD) in mHealth creation to ensure those promises become a reality.

In the next 15 to 20 years, the Chinese population will reach a plateau and start to decline. With the changing family structure and rushed urbanization policies, there will be greater demand for high-quality medical resources at urban centers and home-based elderly care driven by telehealth solutions. This paper describes an exploratory study regarding elderly users’ preference for telehealth solutions in the next 5 to 10 years in 4 cities, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Yichang.

Obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are worldwide epidemics that inflict burdens on both public health and health care costs. Self-management plays an important role in the proper management of these 3 chronic diseases, and in this context, mobile health (mHealth) can be a cost-effective self-management tool.

Health apps are often used without adequately taking aspects related to their quality under consideration. This may partially be due to inadequate awareness about necessary criteria and how to prioritize them when evaluating an app.

Personalized prevention tools such as mobile apps designed to reduce alcohol consumption are widespread in mobile app stores accessible in Russia. However, the quality and content of these mobile apps have not been systematically evaluated.

There is a growing need for the integration of patient-generated health data (PGHD) into research and clinical care to enable personalized, preventive, and interactive care, but technical and organizational challenges, such as the lack of standards and easy-to-use tools, preclude the effective use of PGHD generated from consumer devices, such as smartphones and wearables.

Despite the increasing prevalence of hearing loss, the cost and psychological barriers to the use of hearing aids may prevent their use in individuals with hearing loss. Patients with hearing loss can benefit from smartphone-based hearing aid apps (SHAAs), which are smartphone apps that use a mobile device as a sound amplifier.

Chronic neck pain is a highly prevalent condition. Learning a relaxation technique is recommended by numerous guidelines for chronic neck pain. Smartphone apps can provide relaxation exercises; however, their effectiveness, especially in a self-care setting, is unclear.

Poor adherence to oral anticoagulation in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) has been shown to negatively impact health care costs, morbidity, and mortality. Although various methods such as automated reminders, counseling, telephone support, and patient education have been effective in improving medication adherence, the burden on health care providers has been considerable. Recently, an attempt has been made to improve medication adherence without burdening health care providers by using smartphone apps; however, the use of the app for elderly patients with AF is still limited.

The dose–response relationship between patient engagement and long-term intervention effects in mobile health (mHealth) interventions are understudied. Studies exploring long-term and potentially changing relationships between patient engagement and health outcomes in mHealth interventions are needed.

Mental disorders impose varying degrees of burden on patients and their surroundings. However, people are reluctant to take the initiative to seek mental health services because of the uneven distribution of resources and stigmatization. Thus, mobile apps are considered an effective way to eliminate these obstacles and improve mental health awareness.