Digital personalized mental health promotion in youth

Purpose The recent rapid advances in digital technologies offer new opportunities for mobile assessment and intervention in the form of mHealth apps for population-based mental health promotion and prevention. Multimodal smartphone-generated data, combined with mHealth interventions and, in particular, Ecological Momentary Interventions, may contribute to personalized delivery of intervention components that are tailored to the person, moment and context.

Methods In preparatory work for a living lab for personalized digital mental health promotion in youth, we are currently conducting focus groups and a representative survey in youth, and interviews with health promotion experts, following guidelines of participatory research. In doing so, the relevant stakeholders are systematically involved in planning the research design and methods of the living lab. In the subsequent main study, which will be informed by insights from the preparatory phase, four transdisciplinary projects will focus on developing and testing the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of an mHealth app for mental health promotion in youth, and identify a strategy for scale-up and sustainability.

Results Findings from the focus groups, expert interviews, and survey will provide the basis for youth and relevant stakeholders to participate in co-design and co-creation in the transdisciplinary projects. This will ensure a high level of acceptability, effectiveness, and sustainability of the mHealth app as a relevant digital tool for mental health promotion.

Conclusions The living lab will show new avenues for the development and evaluation of sustainable and scalable measures for digital personalized mental health promotion at the population level.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
02. September 2021