Abstract
Due to the constant use of smartphones in daily life, mHealth apps might bear great potential for the use in health care support. In this chapter the potentials, limitations, current quality and future directions of mHealth apps will be discussed. First, we describe potential benefits like quicker facilitation of information, patient empowerment and inclusion of undersupplied population groups. Furthermore, the use of mHealth apps for diverse somatic and mental health conditions will be discussed. Beyond, the chapter provides the reader with a short overview on the efficacy of mHealth apps for different indications: Exemplary, we provide evidence for the efficacy of mHealth apps in the realm of asthmatic disease, depression and anxiety disorder. Despite the availability of mHealth solutions, the acceptance of among health care providers is still moderate to low. This represents a substantial problem, as health care providers are important gate keepers for intervention uptake. In this context we describe methods to foster acceptance. Furthermore, we address potential risks of mHealth app use including low responsiveness towards critical situations (e.g. self-harm) or the difficulty for users to assess the quality of the app’s content. Here we refer to standardized instruments to assess app quality. With respect to the massive amount of sensitive data already being collected through such mHealth apps, we also reflect on the latest current legal situation in Europe and the United States.
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Messner, EM., Probst, T., O’Rourke, T., Stoyanov, S., Baumeister, H. (2019). mHealth Applications: Potentials, Limitations, Current Quality and Future Directions. In: Baumeister, H., Montag, C. (eds) Digital Phenotyping and Mobile Sensing. Studies in Neuroscience, Psychology and Behavioral Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31620-4_15
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