What Do Men Want from a Health Screening Mobile App? A Qualitative Study.

There is a lack of mobile app which aims to improve health screening uptake developed for men. As part of the study to develop an effective mobile app to increase health screening uptake in men, we conducted a needs assessment to find out what do men want from a health screening mobile app. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 31 men from a banking institution in Kuala Lumpur. The participants were purposely sampled according to their job position, age, ethnicity and screening status. The recruitment was stopped once data saturation was achieved. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic approach. Three themes emerged from the analysis and they were: content, feature and dissemination. In terms of the content, men wanted the app to provide information regarding health screening and functions that can assess their health; which must be personalized to them and are trustable. The app must have user-friendly features in terms of information delivery, ease of use, attention allocation and social connectivity. For dissemination, men proposed that advertisements, recommendations by health professionals, providing incentive and integrating the app as into existing systems may help to increase the dissemination of the app. This study identified important factors that need to be considered when developing a mobile app to improve health screening uptake. Future studies on mobile app development should elicit users' preference and need in terms of its content, features and dissemination strategies to improve the acceptability and the chance of successful implementation

Reasons for non-uptake and subsequent participation in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme: a qualitative study

Background:Screening for bowel cancer using the guaiac faecal occult blood test offered by the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) is taken up by 54% of the eligible population. Uptake ranges from 35% in the most to 61% in the least deprived areas. This study explores reasons for non-uptake of bowel cancer screening, and examines reasons for subsequent uptake among participants who had initially not taken part in screening.Methods:Focus groups with a socio-economically diverse sample of participants were used to explore participants' experience of invitation to and non-uptake of bowel cancer screening.Results:Participants described sampling faeces and storing faecal samples as broaching a cultural taboo, and causing shame. Completion of the test kit within the home rather than a formal health setting was considered unsettling and reduced perceived importance. Not knowing screening results was reported to be preferable to the implications of a positive screening result. Feeling well was associated with low perceived relevance of screening. Talking about bowel cancer screening with family and peers emerged as the key to subsequent participation in screening.Conclusions:Initiatives to normalise discussion about bowel cancer screening, to link the BCSP to general practice, and to simplify the test itself may lead to increased uptake across all social groups.British Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 11 March 2014; doi:10.1038/bjc.2014.125 www.bjcancer.com

The use of focus groups to develop a culturally relevant quality of life tool for lymphatic filariasis in Bangladesh

Purpose\ud The purpose of this study was to conduct focus groups to operationalise the construct of quality of life (QOL) for people living with lymphatic filariasis (LF) in Bangladesh to develop culturally valid items for a Bangladeshi LF QOL tool.\ud \ud Methods\ud Ten focus groups were conducted with a stratified purposeful sample (n = 60) of LF patients (3 focus groups, n = 17), doctors (1 focus group, n = 5), nurses (1 focus group, n = 6) and other hospital staff (1 focus group, n = 5), community leaders (2 focus groups, n = 14), community volunteer health workers (1 focus group, n = 5) and Bangladeshi LF researchers and planners (1 focus group, n = 8). Focus group methodology was informed by local culture in consultation with cultural mentors and local advisors, often going against standard focus group procedures. Data were collected through note taking, audio taping, transcripts, observational notes and a reflection diary. Open coding of transcript data was completed until data saturation was achieved.\ud \ud Results\ud Forty-three constructs were identified through the focus groups that had not previously been identified in the literature, including constructs relating to environmental supports and barriers, activities, participation and psychological impacts. There were marked differences between the impacts reported by different groups, highlighting the need for a comprehensive purposive sample. In particular, contributions from participants who would not traditionally be viewed as "experts" were vital.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud The use of focus groups strongly contributed to the operationalisation of the concept of QOL in Bangladesh for people living with LF. Use of literature review or expert opinion alone would have missed vital constructs