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mHealth Research Group NUI Galway: Using mobile technologies for effective health behaviour change

mHealth Research Group NUI Galway: Using mobile technologies for effective health behaviour change
mHealth Research Group NUI Galway: Using mobile technologies for effective health behaviour change
The European Health Psychologist mHealth (mobile health) is the practice of medicine, public health and allied healthcare or self-care supported by mobile devices (e.g. smartphones, tablet computers, wearable activity monitors). Among the world's population of 7 billion there are over 5 billion mobile devices and over 90% of users have their mobile device near them 24 hours a day (European Commission, 2014). Mobile health apps have captured the public imagination allowing for unobtrusive self-monitoring and the dawn of the 'quantified self' movement as a potentially major aspect of health improvement (Commission for Communications Regulation, 2014). The development of these apps provides a unique opportunity for researchers in population health to track real-time, continuous, accurate and objective measures of health indices and related behaviour. Mobile devices provide a potentially very powerful platform for delivering behavioural interventions and providing health relevant feedback to users. Well-designed mHealth interventions may effectively change patient health-related behaviour, improve patient knowledge and support for active involvement in self-management and lifestyle change leading to better health outcomes (EU Green Paper on mHealth, 2014). However, it is critical that mHealth app developers work closely with behavioural scientists to ensure that interventions are informed by relevant behavioural theory. Health psychologists are leading the development of scientific methods for studying behaviour change, with the potential to significantly enhance public health research through employing theory-linked, evidence-based behaviour change techniques.
2225-6962
93-97
Walsh, Jane
0c15eccf-9a7d-414d-86b3-53a4c622cf7d
Corbett, Teresa
bce81837-17ae-46c3-a6b1-43a7e1f07f9c
Walsh, Jane
0c15eccf-9a7d-414d-86b3-53a4c622cf7d
Corbett, Teresa
bce81837-17ae-46c3-a6b1-43a7e1f07f9c

Walsh, Jane and Corbett, Teresa (2015) mHealth Research Group NUI Galway: Using mobile technologies for effective health behaviour change. The European Health Psychologist, 17 (4), 93-97.

Record type: Article

Abstract

The European Health Psychologist mHealth (mobile health) is the practice of medicine, public health and allied healthcare or self-care supported by mobile devices (e.g. smartphones, tablet computers, wearable activity monitors). Among the world's population of 7 billion there are over 5 billion mobile devices and over 90% of users have their mobile device near them 24 hours a day (European Commission, 2014). Mobile health apps have captured the public imagination allowing for unobtrusive self-monitoring and the dawn of the 'quantified self' movement as a potentially major aspect of health improvement (Commission for Communications Regulation, 2014). The development of these apps provides a unique opportunity for researchers in population health to track real-time, continuous, accurate and objective measures of health indices and related behaviour. Mobile devices provide a potentially very powerful platform for delivering behavioural interventions and providing health relevant feedback to users. Well-designed mHealth interventions may effectively change patient health-related behaviour, improve patient knowledge and support for active involvement in self-management and lifestyle change leading to better health outcomes (EU Green Paper on mHealth, 2014). However, it is critical that mHealth app developers work closely with behavioural scientists to ensure that interventions are informed by relevant behavioural theory. Health psychologists are leading the development of scientific methods for studying behaviour change, with the potential to significantly enhance public health research through employing theory-linked, evidence-based behaviour change techniques.

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More information

Published date: August 2015

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 412239
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/412239
ISSN: 2225-6962
PURE UUID: 575c283d-3335-44ef-9876-17b7dd42fdcf
ORCID for Teresa Corbett: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5620-5377

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 14 Jul 2017 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:24

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Contributors

Author: Jane Walsh
Author: Teresa Corbett ORCID iD

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