Mobile app development in health research: pitfalls and solutions

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Aaron Siegler, Emory University; Justin Knox, Columbia University; José A. Bauermeister, University of Pennsylvania; Jesse Golinkoff, University of Pennsylvania; Lisa Hightow-Weidman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Hyman Scott, San Francisco Department of Public Health
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-04-01
• Publisher: AME Publishing Company
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © mHealth. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/mhealth-19-263
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: mHealth
• Volume: 7
• Start Page: 32
• End Page: 32
• Grant/Funding Information: The work was facilitated by the Emory Center for AIDS Research (P30AI050409).; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI143875); This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH114692), the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (Protocol 159) from the National Institutes of Health (U19HD089881)
• Keywords: Health research; interventions; technology
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Education; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Mobile app health research presents myriad opportunities to improve health, and simultaneously introduces a new set of challenges that are non-intuitive and extend beyond typical training received by researchers. Informed by our experiences with app development for health research, we discuss some of the most salient pitfalls when working with emerging technology as well as potential strategies to avoid or resolve these challenges. To address challenges at the project level, we suggest strategies that researchers can use to future-proof their research, such as using theory and involving those with app development expertise as part of a research team. At the structural level, we include a new model to characterize the relationship between technology- and research-timelines, and provide ideas regarding how to best address this challenge. Given that screen-based time now predominates our lived experiences, it is important that health researchers have the capacity and structural support to develop interventions that utilize these technologies, assess them rigorously, and ensure their timely and equitable dissemination.