Puddephatt, J.-A. orcid.org/0000-0003-3441-4052, Leightley, D. orcid.org/0000-0001-9512-752X, Palmer, L. orcid.org/0000-0001-8559-5709 et al. (7 more authors) (2019) A qualitative evaluation of the acceptability of a tailored smartphone alcohol intervention for a military population: Information about Drinking for Ex-serving personnel (InDEx) app. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7 (5). e12267. ISSN 2291-5222
Abstract
Background: Alcohol consumption in the UK Armed Forces is higher than in the general population, and this pattern continues after leaving the service. Smartphone apps may be useful to increase ex-serving personnel’s awareness of their alcohol consumption, support self-monitoring, and prompt a change in behavior.
Objective: The study aimed to explore the acceptability of Information about Drinking in Ex-serving personnel (InDEx), a tailored smartphone app, combined with personalized short message service (SMS) text messaging designed to target ex-serving personnel who meet the criteria for hazardous alcohol use.
Methods: The InDEx intervention included 4 key modules: (1) assessment and normative feedback, (2) self-monitoring and feedback, (3) goal setting and review, and (4) personalized SMS text messaging. A semistructured telephone interview study was conducted with ex-serving personnel after using the app for a 28-day period. Interviews were used to explore the acceptability of app modules and its functionality and the perceived changes in participant’s drinking. Interview transcripts were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.
Results: Overall, 94% (29/31) participants who used InDEx agreed to take part in a telephone interview. Overall, 4 themes were identified: Credibility, Meeting their needs, Simplicity, and Helpful for ex-serving personnel. The importance of credibility, functionality, and meeting the individual needs of ex-serving personnel was emphasized. Acceptability and engagement with specific modules of the app and text messages were influenced by the following: (1) if they felt it provided credible information, (2) whether the content was appropriately personalized to them, (3) the ease of use, and (4) beliefs about their own drinking behaviors. Participants recommended that the app would be most suitable for personnel about to leave the Armed Forces.
Conclusions: InDEx was an acceptable smartphone app for ex-serving personnel for monitoring alcohol consumption and in providing meaningful feedback to the individual. Pages that met the participant’s interests and provided real time personalized, credible feedback on their drinking and text messages tailored to participant’s interactions with the app were particularly favored.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | ©Jo-Anne Puddephatt, Daniel Leightley, Laura Palmer, Norman Jones, Toktam Mahmoodi, Colin Drummond, Roberto J Rona, Nicola T Fear, Matt Field, Laura Goodwin. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 24.05.2019. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mhealth and uhealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. |
Keywords: | behavior; alcohol drinking; veterans; interview; smartphone |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 02 Apr 2019 15:23 |
Last Modified: | 20 Jun 2019 14:21 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | JMIR Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.2196/12267 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:144385 |