Abstract
There does not exist an appropriate mobile health (mHealth) app to address healthcare workers’ (HCWs) stress management needs, even though mobile apps have shown efficacy in improving mental health of various populations. Inspired by our prior design requirements study, we designed a prototype mobile app to provide stress management support to HCWs in their workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. The app featured six components that aimed to provide social support, wellness monitoring, stress tracking, and health nudges. Twenty two HCWs validated the design of a proposed app by providing feedback on the prototypical implementation of each component. 54.6% participants rated the app as either useful or very useful and 59.1% were willing to use it. Most participants voted to include features related to social support and health nudges, modify features that supported wellness monitoring, and remove COVID-19 symptom checking and intelligent chatbot. The thematic analysis of the qualitative data helped uncover concerns, perceived benefits, and suggestions for improving these features. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for designing peer-to-peer support systems, health nudges, and intelligent chatbots aimed at providing stress management support to HCWs in their workplaces.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Change history
01 January 2022
In an older version of Chapter 4, a DOI was missing from reference number 15. This has been corrected.
References
Mockplus. Online (2020). https://app.mockplus.com/
Ahtinen, A., et al.: Mobile mental wellness training for stress management: Feasibility and design implications based on a one-month field study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 1(2), e11 (2013). https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.2596. http://mhealth.jmir.org/2013/2/e11/
Balk-Møller, N.C., Poulsen, S.K., Larsen, T.M.: Effect of a nine-month web-and app-based workplace intervention to promote healthy lifestyle and weight loss for employees in the social welfare and health care sector: a randomized controlled trial. J. Med. Internet Res. 19(4), e108 (2017)
Blake, H., Bermingham, F., Johnson, G., Tabner, A.: Mitigating the psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers: a digital learning package. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17(9), 2997 (2020)
Caraban, A., Karapanos, E., Gonçalves, D., Campos, P.: 23 ways to nudge: a review of technology-mediated nudging in human-computer interaction. In: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1–15 (2019)
Carissoli, C., Villani, D., Riva, G.: Does a meditation protocol supported by a mobile application help people reduce stress? suggestions from a controlled pragmatic trial. Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw. 18(1), 46–53 (2015)
Chaudhry, B.M., Islam, A., Matthieu, M.: Toward designs of workplace stress management mobile apps for frontline health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: Mixed methods qualitative study. JMIR Formative Res. 6(1), e30640. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34806985
Cheng, P., et al.: COVID-19 epidemic peer support and crisis intervention via social media. Community Ment. Health J. 56(5), 786–792 (2020)
Clough, B.A., March, S., Leane, S., Ireland, M.J.: What prevents doctors from seeking help for stress and burnout? A mixed-methods investigation among metropolitan and regional-based Australian doctors. J. Clin. Psychol. 75(3), 418–432 (2019)
Donker, T., Petrie, K., Proudfoot, J., Clarke, J., Birch, M.R., Christensen, H.: Smartphones for smarter delivery of mental health programs: a systematic review. J. Med. Internet Res. 15(11), e247 (2013)
Dworkin, M.S., et al.: Acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of a theory-based relational embodied conversational agent mobile phone intervention to promote HIV medication adherence in young HIV-positive African American MSM. AIDS Educ. Prev. 31(1), 17–37 (2019)
Ebert, D.D., Lehr, D., Heber, E., Riper, H., Cuijpers, P., Berking, M.: Internet-and mobile-based stress management for employees with adherence-focused guidance: efficacy and mechanism of change. Scandinavian J. Work Environ. Health 382–394 (2016)
Hämmig, O.: Explaining burnout and the intention to leave the profession among health professionals-a cross-sectional study in a hospital setting in switzerland. BMC Health Serv. Res. 18(1), 1–11 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3556-1
Hamouche, S.: COVID-19 and employees? mental health: stressors, moderators and agenda for organizational actions [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]. Emerald Open Res. 2(15) (2020). https://doi.org/10.35241/emeraldopenres.13550.1
Ibrahim, A., Zhang, H., Clinch, S., Poliakoff, E., Parsia, B., Harper, S., et al.: Digital phenotypes for understanding individuals’ compliance with COVID-19 policies and personalized nudges: Longitudinal observational study. JMIR Form. Res. 5(5), e23461 (2021)
Ji, Y.D., Robertson, F.C., Patel, N.A., Peacock, Z.S., Resnick, C.M.: Assessment of risk factors for suicide among us health care professionals. JAMA Surg. 155(8), 713–721 (2020)
Jones, N., Whybrow, D., Coetzee, R.: UK military doctors; stigma, mental health and help-seeking: a comparative cohort study. BMJ Mili. Health 164(4), 259–266 (2018)
de Korte, E.M., Wiezer, N., Janssen, J.H., Vink, P., Kraaij, W.: Evaluating an mhealth app for health and well-being at work: mixed-method qualitative study. JMIR mhealth uhealth 6(3), e72 (2018). https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.6335. http://mhealth.jmir.org/2018/3/e72/
Lai, J., et al.: Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019. JAMA Netw. Open 3(3), e203976–e203976 (2020)
Maunder, R.: The experience of the 2003 SARS outbreak as a traumatic stress among frontline healthcare workers in Toronto: lessons learned. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. B Biol. Sci. 359(1447), 1117–1125 (2004)
McMahon, S.A., Ho, L.S., Brown, H., Miller, L., Ansumana, R., Kennedy, C.E.: Healthcare providers on the frontlines: a qualitative investigation of the social and emotional impact of delivering health services during sierra leone’s ebola epidemic. Health Policy Plan. 31(9), 1232–1239 (2016)
Mira, J.J., Acute stress of the healthcare workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic evolution: a cross-sectional study in Spain. BMJ Open 10(11) (2020). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042555, https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/11/e042555
Mira, J.J., et al.: Preventing and addressing the stress reactions of health care workers caring for patients with COVID-19: Development of a digital platform (Be+ against COVID). JMIR mHealth and uHealth 8(10), e21692 (2020)
Mistretta, E.G., Davis, M.C., Temkit, M., Lorenz, C., Darby, B., Stonnington, C.M., et al.: Resilience training for work-related stress among health care workers: results of a randomized clinical trial comparing in-person and smartphone-delivered interventions. J. Occup. Environ. Med. 60(6), 559–568 (2018)
Motamed-Jahromi, M., Fereidouni, Z., Dehghan, A.: Effectiveness of positive thinking training program on nurses’ quality of work life through smartphone applications. Int. Sch. Res. Not. 2017 (2017)
Proudfoot, J.G., Parker, G.B., Pavlovic, D.H., Manicavasagar, V., Adler, E., Whitton, A.E.: Community attitudes to the appropriation of mobile phones for monitoring and managing depression, anxiety, and stress. J. Med. Internet Res. 12(5), e64 (2010)
Salleh, M.R.: Life event, stress and illness. Malays. J. Med. Sci. MJMS 15(4), 9 (2008)
Thompson, D., et al.: Using relational agents to promote family communication around type 1 diabetes self-management in the diabetes family teamwork online intervention: longitudinal pilot study. J. Med. Internet Res. 21(9), e15318 (2019)
UNC School of Medicine: Welcome to the heroes health initiative, a support tool for health workers (2020). https://heroeshealth.unc.edu/
Wang, C., et al.: Acceptability and feasibility of a virtual counselor (VICKY) to collect family health histories. Genet. Med. 17(10), 822–830 (2015)
Yin, Q., et al.: Posttraumatic stress symptoms of health care workers during the corona virus disease 2019. Clin. Psychol. Psychother. 27(3), 384–395 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2477. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cpp.2477
Yoon, S., et al.: Perceptions of mobile health apps and features to support psychosocial well-being among frontline health care workers involved in the COVID-19 pandemic response: qualitative study. J Med Internet Res 23(5), e26282 (2021). https://doi.org/10.2196/26282. https://www.jmir.org/2021/5/e26282
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering
About this paper
Cite this paper
Chaudhry, B.M., Islam, A. (2022). Design Validation of a Workplace Stress Management Mobile App for Healthcare Workers During COVID-19 and Beyond. In: Hara, T., Yamaguchi, H. (eds) Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking and Services. MobiQuitous 2021. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 419. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94822-1_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94822-1_17
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-94821-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-94822-1
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)