Journal
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH
Volume 17, Issue 8, Pages -Publisher
JMIR PUBLICATIONS, INC
DOI: 10.2196/jmir.3965
Keywords
mHealth; substance abuse disorder; sustainability; funding; engagement; staff; client; implementation
Funding
- National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [R01 AA017192]
- National Institute of Drug Abuse grant [R21 DA036700]
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM [R01AA017192] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE [R21DA036700, R01DA040449, R01DA034279] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background: Mobile health (mHealth) services are growing in importance in health care research with the advancement of wireless networks, tablets, and mobile phone technologies. These technologies offer a wide range of applications that cover the spectrum of health care delivery. Although preliminary experiments in mHealth demonstrate promising results, more robust real-world evidence is needed for widespread adoption and sustainment of these technologies. Objective: Our aim was to identify the problems/challenges associated with sustained use of an mHealth addiction recovery support app and to determine strategies used by agencies that successfully sustained client use of A-CHESS. Methods: Qualitative inquiry assessed staff perceptions about organizational attributes and strategies associated with sustained use of the mobile app, A-CHESS. A total of 73 interviews of clinicians and administrators were conducted. The initial interviews (n=36) occurred at the implementation of A-CHESS. Follow-up interviews (n=37) occurred approximately 12 and 24 months later. A coding scheme was developed and Multiuser NVivo was used to manage and analyze the blinded interview data. Results: Successful strategies used by treatment providers to sustain A-CHESS included (1) strong leadership support, (2) use of client feedback reports to follow up on non-engaged clients, (3) identify passionate staff and incorporate A-CHESS discussions in weekly meetings, (4) develop A-CHESS guidelines related to client use, (5) establish internal work groups to engage clients, and (6) establish a financial strategy to sustain A-CHESS use. The study also identified attributes of A-CHESS that enhanced as well as inhibited its sustainability. Conclusions: Mobile apps can play an important role in health care delivery. However, providers will need to develop strategies for engaging both staff and patients in ongoing use of the apps. They will also need to rework business processes to accommodate the changes in communication frequency and style, learn to use app data for decision making, and identify financing mechanisms for supporting these changes.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available