Process and information needs when searching for and selecting apps for smoking cessation:Qualitative study using contextual inquiry

BACKGROUND: Hundreds of apps are available to support people in their quest to quit smoking. It has been hypothesized that selecting an app from a sizable volume without any aid can be overwhelming and difficult. However, little is known about how people choose apps for smoking cessation and what exactly people want to know about an app before choosing to install it. Understanding the decision-making process may ultimately be helpful in creating tools to help people meaningfully select apps. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to obtain insights into the process of searching and selecting mobile apps for smoking cessation and map the range of actions and the accompanying reasons during the search, focusing on the information needs and experiences of those who aim to find an app. METHODS: Contextual inquiries were conducted with 10 Dutch adults wanting to quit smoking by using an app. During the inquiries, we observed people as they chose an app. In addition, 2 weeks later, there was a short semistructured follow-up interview over the phone. Through convenience and purposive sampling, we included participants differing in gender, age, and educational level. We used thematic analysis to analyze the transcribed interviews and leveraged a combination of video and audio recordings to understand what is involved in searching and selecting apps for smoking cessation. RESULTS: The process of finding smoking cessation apps is comprehensive: participants explored, evaluated, and searched for information; imagined using functions; compared apps; assessed the trustworthiness of apps and information; and made several decisions while navigating the internet and app stores. During the search, the participants gained knowledge of apps and developed clearer ideas about their wishes and requirements. Confidence and trust in these apps to help quitting remained quite low or even decreased. Although the process was predominantly a positive experience, the whole process took time and energy and caused negative emotions such as frustration and disappointment for some participants. In addition, without the participants realizing it, errors in information processing occurred, which affected the choices they made. All participants chose an app with the explicit intention of using it. After 2 weeks, of the 10 participants, 6 had used the app, of whom only 1 extensively. CONCLUSIONS: Finding an app in the current app stores that contains functions and features expected to help in quitting smoking takes considerable time and energy, can be a negative experience, and is prone to errors in information processing that affect decision-making. Therefore, we advise the further development of decision aids, such as advanced filters, recommender systems and curated health app portals, and make a number of concrete recommendations for the design of such systems

Gebruik van de RAND-36 bij zelfstandig wonende ouderen kan leiden tot een onderschatting van de ervaren gezondheidstoestand

De algemene gezondheidstoestand van de bevolking wordt veelal gemeten met de RAND-36 item Health Survey. De afkorting RAND verwijst naar de Amerikaanse onderzoeksorganisatie voor ‘Research and Development’ die de vragenlijst ontwikkelde. In 2012 is door Fontys en partners een longitudinaal veldonderzoek gestart met als doelstelling het in kaart brengen van factoren die van invloed zijn op het gebruik van technologie ter bevordering van het zelfstandig wonen door ouderen. In totaal worden 50 deelnemers van 70 jaar of ouder, vier jaar lang elke acht maanden geïnterviewd. Tevens worden er enkele vragenlijsten afgenomen waaronder twee vragen uit de RAND- 36 waarvan een item luidt: ‘Ik ben net zo gezond als andere mensen die ik ken’. Tijdens dit onderzoek is gebleken dat sommige deelnemers die zichzelf gezonder vinden dan andere mensen die zij kennen, de stelling ontkennend beantwoorden maar daarmee onbedoeld een antwoordcategorie invullen die zich vertaalt in een lagere score voor de ervaren gezondheidstoestand. Het op deze manier invullen van dit item kan daardoor leiden tot een onderschatting van de algemene gezondheidstoestand van ouderen

Working towards fostering programming acceptance in the everyday lives of older and adult people with low levels of formal education:a qualitative case study

With the ever-increasing development of digital technologies, understanding their acceptance or rejection is important. A great deal of research, led by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), shows that technology acceptance is a hot and complex topic. Much of it has been quantitative and operationalized within mandatory—workplace/organizational—contexts, where instrumental aspects of technology use (e.g., efficiency and productivity) play a central role. In this chapter, we report on a qualitative case study—based on 3 in-person learning courses—of factors that can help us foster programming acceptance in the everyday lives of older and adult people with low levels of formal education. We discuss the relative relevance of technology acceptance constructs, showing that perceived ease-of-use is much less relevant than perceived usefulness, because all participants had to find the fit of programming in their lives. We show that two social aspects—the figure of the course instructor and the group—were key to introduce programming and encourage decision-making. We also discuss some methodological issues, such as the difficulties in asking validated items of TAM (e.g. “I have the knowledge necessary to use the system”) to our participants

Resultaten van onderzoek naar acceptatie van technologie door zelfstandig wonende ouderen: een samenvatting

Wereldwijd vergrijst de bevolking in een rap tempo. Wanneer we naar Nederland kijken, dan is de prognose dat binnen 25 jaar een kwart van de bevolking zal bestaan uit 65-plussers. Nieuwe technologie kan het leven van deze ouderen een stuk aangenamer maken, maar technologie kan ook ingewikkeld zijn, en zorgen voor ongemak. Tegenwoordig wordt er veel verwacht van technologie als hulpmiddel om ouderen te helpen bij het zelfstandig wonen. Maar wat zorgt er nu voor dat een ouder iemand technologie in huis neemt of krijgt? En wat zorgt ervoor dat hij of zij technologie wil en kan gebruiken? In dit document wordt de laatste wetenschappelijke kennis op dit vlak op een toegankelijke manier besproken

Predictors of seniors\u27 interest in assistive applications on smartphones

Assistive applications (apps) on smartphones could contribute to a better quality of life for seniors living independently at home. At present, there is a lack of empirical evidence of seniors\u27 acceptance of such apps. The Cycle of Technology Acquirement by Independent-Living Seniors (C-TAILS) model was recently proposed for studying the interplay between acceptance factors by integrating the personal, social and technological domains of seniors\u27 daily lives. This study aimed to explore how four groups of factors, clustered in accordance with the C-TAILS model, predict seniors\u27 interest in assistive apps, on a representative sample of the Slovenian population aged 55 years or older. The 617 respondents, who were contacted though a telephone survey, answered a questionnaire about their interest in three groups of assistive apps and four groups of potentially associated acceptance factors. Three linear regression models were used to analyse the association between the factors and the seniors\u27 interest in the three types of assistive apps. Smartphone-related dispositional traits were the strongest predictors across all three models. Among mobile phone usage patterns, smartphone use and the breadth of mobile phone features used were significant factors, while the significance of seniors\u27 personal characteristics and socio-economic conditions varied across the models. Hence, awareness that these factors play different roles in the acceptance of different assistive apps is needed in order to design viable interventions for their acceptance among seniors