JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Human history is filled with innovations and resultant new technologies that have markedly shifted human well-being and societal function, largely for the better. Mobile health (mHealth) is a timely example of such innovation, aimed at harnessing portable technologies to improve health promotion and intervention efforts; and human-centered implementation research is necessary for bringing the public health benefits of mHealth to global fruition. Even when evidence convincingly demonstrates mHealth product and data safety, however, there are commonly still individual or public concerns about such technology’s implementational effects on health and personal security. Such concerns can lead to adverse health outcomes triggered by psychological – rather than physiological – impacts of such innovations (i.e., nocebo effects); apprehension and avoidance of the new technologies; and larger societal, governmental, legislative, and market implications. We present a biopsychosocial approach to mHealth implementation research, positing that evaluating and addressing unfounded public concerns with mobile technologies, from a multi-faceted perspective, is necessary for scaling-up mHealth to reach targeted populations of interest. Special mention is paid to similar allied technologies throughout (e.g., wireless power transfer; passive sensing; WiFi; near frequency communication). We offer solutions for addressing public concerns about mHealth (and similar technologies) by harnessing social and behavioral science approaches. Specifically, we propose first better understanding these public perceptions, next developing theory-based public communication strategies about the safety of mHealth, and finally disseminating such messaging using evidence-based techniques to change perceptions and preventively intervene on unsupported negative perceptions surrounding mHealth technologies.