A Systematic Review of Usefulness Design Goals of Occupational mHealth Apps for Healthcare Workers

Abstract

To improve healthcare professionals health and wellbeing at work, many available effective treatments including meditation, and workplace intervention, have been developed. However, the utilisation of these interventions is still limited. Currently, various mobile health applications (mHealth Apps) exist to assist a wide range of users with different occupational health issues, such as stress, anxiety, and burnout. Despite their advantages, post-download uptake of mHealth apps by end-users remains low. Some of the reasons for this are poor usability, irrelevant or missing user-desired features, and poor user experience. This review paper explores the usefulness of mHealth Apps for the early detection of occupational-related ill-health among healthcare workers. To achieve this, we developed a conceptual framework that identifies relevant usability, utility, and user experience design goals that enhance the usefulness of such mHealth apps. This paper initially presents a systematic review of the literature that identifies design goals proven to be relevant or often lacking. The review shows that occupational mHealth apps rarely fit end users' backgrounds, work contexts, and dynamics. In turn, these identified design goals will be used as assessment points with end-users in subsequent stages of our project. Expected results at the end of the project will provide an enhanced understanding of usefulness design goals that contribute to the long-term use and adoption of these apps.