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Exploring the Challenges of Evaluating mHealth Engagement
The promise of digital health interventions is partly rooted in their flexibility and convenience. While traditional, face-to-face modalities (e.g., group sessions, individual counseling) often have a set, prescribed exposure (e.g., 12 weekly sessions), mHealth interventions (e.g., apps, websites, chatbots) are accessible 24/7 and are used within the context of participants’
What is a User Story – a Primer for Digital Health Researchers
Creating user stories is one of the first mobile or web app development tasks. If you are a digital health researcher building an app for the first time, the term ‘user stories’ may be new. In short, an app’s user stories are the primary medium of how its design and
The Importance of Testing in Mobile App Development– a Primer for Digital Health Researchers
Developing a mobile or web app is uncharted territory for most researchers, making planning for the required time and resources challenging. In line with our mission of empowering health researchers to take on more leadership in developing health promotion apps, we’d like to shed some light on an often-overlooked development
Top Python Resources for Digital Health Researchers
We recently posted about why digital health researchers should consider using Python to work with their data. Python offers so much power and flexibility, such as automating cleaning and processing data and sharing reproducible notebooks. If you are getting started with Python and feel overwhelmed, know that a large and
Why Digital Health Researchers Should Be Using Python
As a digital health researcher, you are likely familiar with using statistical packages such as SPSS, SAS, or Stata for your data analysis and cleaning needs. While these programs have a relatively low initial learning curve, they may not provide the versatility, scalability, and ease of use you need to
Automate Survey Data Analysis Using the Qualtrics API
Why use the Qualtrics API to mange survey data analysis? An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a set of rules and protocols that defines how different software systems can communicate with each other. APIs are commonly used to allow third-party developers to access and use the data and functionality
Tips for Using Social Media to Recruit Research Participants
Using a paid advertising strategy on social media can be an efficient, cost-effective strategy to recruit participants for your health research study. In this article, we provide some strategic and tactical tips for running an effective paid social media campaign. Tip 1: Lay the strategic groundwork The general framework of
Choosing the Right Tech Developer
Choosing the right technology developer to partner with is vital to the success and sustainability of your digital health promotion research. It can also be a stressful, confusing venture, especially if it’s new to you or have had previous negative experiences working with developers. In this blog, we break down
App Specs: A Guide for Researchers Building Digital Interventions
Why develop an app or web specifications document? One of the first questions that comes to mind when planning a website or app build for a digital health intervention is: ‘how much will it cost?’ There’s no simple answer because development projects come in all shapes and sizes. The cost
Native vs PWAs – An overview for health researchers
When health researchers begin planning a digital intervention, they usually begin with the idea to develop ‘an app,’ without necessarily being aware there is a choice to make on what type of app platform: native apps and progressive web apps (PWAs). Choosing native versus PWA is a critical choice that