Using physical health apps to promote healthy lifestyles in youth mental healthcare: A nationwide perspective-gathering exercise of over 400 service users.

Digital technologies have presented a myriad of new solutions for improving cardiometabolic and behavioural health in the general population. However, the ways in which such advances could be applied to address the heightened health-risk behaviours and associated diseases in mental healthcare is unknown. To examine this, 492 young people with mental illness (YPMI) were recruited from 27 Primary Care and NHS mental healthcare sites across the UK, covering various diagnoses (excluding eating disorders). Participants were presented with four types of physical health apps, delivering: 1) Health Tracking; 2) Health Coaching; 3) Health Connections; and 4) Instructional Videos, and completed an online perspective-gathering exercise on the preferred utility, features, behavioural targets of these technologies, and barriers/facilitators to uptake. Results showed a high level of perceived utility across each of the four app types, with physical activity, sleep and diet emerging as preferred behavioural targets. Feedback on ideal app features indicated a need for integrated physical-mental health tracking, and expert-led instructional content/coaching, with less interest expressed towards sharing data with clinical teams. These findings can improve the development, future trials, and clinical implementation of digital lifestyle interventions in mental healthcare, through better accounting for the needs and preferences of YPMI.

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Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of competing interest JF is supported by a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/Y033876/1) and has received honoraria, consultancy or advisory fees from Atheneum, Informa, Gillian Kenny Associates, Bayer, Big Health, Hedonia, Strive Coaching, Wood For Trees, Nutritional Medicine Institute, Angelini, ParachuteBH, Richmond Foundation and Nirakara, independent of this work. SB is a Director and shareholder of CareLoop Health Ltd, which develops and markets digital therapeutics for schizophrenia and a digital screening app for postnatal depression. SB is supported by a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Professorship (NIHR300794). SB and JF are supported by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203308). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.