JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The popularity of mHealth technology has resulted in the development of numerous applications for almost every type of self-improvement or disease management. M- and e-health solutions for increasing awareness about and safety around intimate partner violence is no exception. These applications allow women to control access to these resources and provide unlimited, and with the right design features, safe access when these resources are needed. Few applications, however, have been designed in close collaboration with intended users to ensure relevance and effectiveness.

Objective:

Our objective is to describe the rigorous process we engaged in to develop three evidence-based apps- each of which was developed for a particular audience and tailored to their specific needs. Using strategies of co-design we sought to ensure the end users (women at risk for IPV and those experiencing IPV) are involved in all stages of design and testing of our suite of mHealth tools.

Methods:

Our methods involved elements of Human Centred Design and rapid cycles of quality improvement to inform the development of a suite of evidence-based mhealth applications to facilitate early identification of unsafe relationship behaviors and tailored safety planning to reduce harm from violence including the methods by which we collaborated with and sought input from population of intended users. One app responded to the changing context of heightened risk of IPV for women living under restricted conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results:

Co-design strategies were important in creating relevant and tailored our suite of mhealth applications to facilitate identification of IPV and also safety planning supports. A diverse group of key informants representing end users and those who serve women living with violence provided critical feedback to ensure that the mhealth apps were accessible and meeting the meeting app objectives. We share challenges we faced and lessons learned that might inform future design efforts of m- and e-health evidence-based applications.

Conclusions:

Use of of Human Centred Design with an emphasis on co-design can ensure the greater relevance of m- and e-health applications.