JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

United States (US) military Veterans who have experienced homelessness often have high rates of housing transitions. Disruptions caused by these transitions likely exacerbate this population’s health problems and interfere with access to care and treatment engagement. Individuals experiencing homelessness increasingly use smartphones, contributing to improved access to medical and social services. Few studies have used smartphones as a data collection tool to systematically collect information about the daily life events that precede and contribute to housing transitions --in-the-moment emotions, behaviors, geographic movements, and perceived social support.

Objective:

We aim to develop and test a smartphone app to collect longitudinal data from veterans experiencing homelessness (VEH) and to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of using the app in a population that is unstably housed or homeless.

Methods:

This study’s design has three phases. Phase 1 employs ethnographic methods to capture detailed data on day-to-day lived experiences of up to 30 VEH, on topics such as housing stability, health, and health behaviors. Phase 2 involves focus groups and usability testing to develop and refine mobile phone data collection methods. Phase 3 will pilot the smartphone mobile data collection with 30 VEH. It will include mobile ethnography, real-time surveys via an app and the collection of global positioning system (GPS) data.

Results:

The project was launched in June 2020, and data collection for Phase 1 and Phase 2 completed. This project is currently in progress.

Conclusions:

This multi-phase study to our knowledge is the first to use a smartphone app to conduct longitudinal data collection from VEH on precipitating events that potentially lead to housing transitions and/or changes in health status. Clinical Trial: This is not a clinical trial