People's Views on Health Related Apps
Summary:
As part of the event we gathered data using four main sources; a survey about TEC attitudes, an apps survey, a young people’s app survey and general comment.
This report provides the analysis from the apps survey only.
116 individuals participated in this project and the key findings are as follows:
- 80% had never heard of the term ‘TEC’
- With regards to apps health and fitness related apps had the highest awareness (69%)
- Most people did not associate apps with supporting a person’s mental health (23%)
- Well known and popular commercial fitness apps scored highest in our awareness question with Strava 24% and Nike+ 15% receiving the most votes.
- The survey implied that those most active are more likely to use apps
- When discussing the use apps to support a person’s mental health the main barrier for individuals was the thought that a person’s mental health would be too complex to be supported by an app 48%
Conclusion:
The use of apps is mainly for monitoring a person’s health and fitness as opposed to mental health however there is a desire for greater awareness and information on which apps are good, and how to sue them.
In order to increase the popularity of the use of apps more awareness campaigns are required. These should be widespread and emphasise; ease of use, clarity of purpose and their free nature. These campaigns should also seek to blur the lines between mental health and physical health to help increase the uptake.
Health worker’s also need to have all the relevant information as to the benefits of health apps and their availability and support individuals to access and use these were possible.
