Department of Social Work, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2024 Jun 14;12:e55548. doi: 10.2196/55548.
Mobile health (mHealth) interventions that promote healthy behaviors or mindsets are a promising avenue to reach vulnerable or at-risk groups. In designing such mHealth interventions, authentic representation of intended participants is essential. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for innovation in remote user-centered research methods. The capability of such research methods to effectively engage with vulnerable participants requires inquiry into practice to determine the suitability and appropriateness of these methods.
In this study, we aimed to explore opportunities and considerations that emerged from involving vulnerable user groups remotely when designing mHealth interventions. Implications and recommendations are presented for researchers and practitioners conducting remote user-centered research with vulnerable populations.
Remote user-centered research practices from 2 projects involving vulnerable populations in Norway and Australia were examined retrospectively using visual mapping and a reflection-on-action approach. The projects engaged low-income and unemployed groups during the COVID-19 pandemic in user-based evaluation and testing of interactive, web-based mHealth interventions.
Opportunities and considerations were identified as (1) reduced barriers to research inclusion; (2) digital literacy transition; (3) contextualized insights: a window into people's lives; (4) seamless enactment of roles; and (5) increased flexibility for researchers and participants.
Our findings support the capability and suitability of remote user methods to engage with users from vulnerable groups. Remote methods facilitate recruitment, ease the burden of research participation, level out power imbalances, and provide a rich and relevant environment for user-centered evaluation of mHealth interventions. There is a potential for a much more agile research practice. Future research should consider the privacy impacts of increased access to participants' environment via webcams and screen share and how technology mediates participants' action in terms of privacy. The development of support procedures and tools for remote testing of mHealth apps with user participants will be crucial to capitalize on efficiency gains and better protect participants' privacy.
促进健康行为或心态的移动健康 (mHealth) 干预措施是接触弱势群体或高危人群的有前途的途径。在设计此类 mHealth 干预措施时，必须真实代表预期参与者。COVID-19 大流行推动了远程以用户为中心的研究方法的创新。这些研究方法能够有效地与弱势群体参与者合作，需要调查实践，以确定这些方法的适用性和适当性。
本研究旨在探讨在设计 mHealth 干预措施时远程参与弱势群体所带来的机会和考虑因素。为研究人员和实践者提供与弱势群体进行远程以用户为中心的研究的相关启示和建议。
使用视觉映射和行动反思方法，回顾性地检查了挪威和澳大利亚两个涉及弱势群体的项目中的远程以用户为中心的研究实践。这些项目在 COVID-19 大流行期间，让低收入和失业群体参与基于用户的评估和对交互式、基于网络的 mHealth 干预措施的测试。
确定了机会和考虑因素，包括：（1）减少研究纳入的障碍；（2）数字扫盲的转变；（3）背景化的见解：了解人们生活的窗口；（4）角色的无缝实施；（5）研究人员和参与者的灵活性增加。
我们的研究结果支持远程用户方法有能力和适用性来接触弱势群体的用户。远程方法便于招募，减轻研究参与的负担，平衡权力不平衡，并为基于用户的 mHealth 干预措施评估提供丰富和相关的环境。研究实践具有更大的灵活性。未来的研究应该考虑通过网络摄像头和屏幕共享增加对参与者环境的访问可能对隐私产生的影响，以及技术如何在隐私方面影响参与者的行为。开发支持程序和工具，以远程测试用户参与的 mHealth 应用程序，对于利用效率提升和更好地保护参与者隐私至关重要。
