Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Apr 9, 2019
Date Accepted: May 14, 2020
mHealth and Engagement Concerning Persons with Chronic Somatic Health Conditions: An Integrative Literature Review
ABSTRACT
Background:
Chronic somatic health conditions are a global public health challenge. Being engaged in one’s own health management for such conditions is important, and mHealth solutions are often suggested as key to promoting engagement.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to systematically review, critically appraise, and synthesize the available research regarding engagement through mHealth for persons with chronic somatic health conditions.
Methods:
A systematic literature review was conducted using the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The PubMed, CINAHL, and Inspec databases were used for literature searches. Quality assessment was done with the guidance of Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklists. We used a self-designed study protocol comprising four engagement aspects—cognitive, behavioural and emotional, interactional, and/or the usage of mHealth—as part of the synthesis and analysis.
Results:
A total of 44 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. mHealth usage was the most commonly occurring engagement aspect, behavioural and emotional aspects the second, cognitive aspects the third, and interactional aspects of engagement the least common aspect in the included articles. The results showed that there is a mix of enablers and barriers to engagement in relation to the four engagement aspects. The perceived meaningfulness and need for the solution and its content was important in order to create and maintain engagement. When perceived as meaningful, suitable, and usable, mHealth can support knowledge gain and learning, facilitate emotional and behavioural aspects such as a sense of confidence, and improve interactions and communications with healthcare professionals.
Conclusions:
mHealth solutions have the potential to support healthcare engagement for persons with chronic somatic conditions. More research is needed to further understand how, by which means, when, and among whom mHealth could further improve engagement for this population.
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© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.