Waselewski ME, Flickinger TE, Canan C, et al. A Mobile Health App to Support Patients Receiving Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: Development and Feasibility Study. JMIR Form Res. 2021;5(2):e24561. doi:10.2196/24561
This article outlines the two-step formative research process used to modify an HIV mobile platform for use in people living with opioid use disorder (OUD). The novel technology is called HOPE: Heal. Overcome. Persist. Endure., and it promotes medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for OUD, by increasing patient’s engagement with their providers, peers, and self-monitoring behaviors. The author’s first step in modifying the app was to conduct a needs assessment with patients and providers (7 patients and 3 providers). The barriers, challenges, and needs from these interviews were used to develop potential app features and modify the language for the HOPE app. The second formative phase included feedback from six patients on the features/content of the app during the initial development process. Once this feedback had been incorporated 25 patients and their respective providers from the University of Virginia MAT clinic were recruited for the pilot phase of the app development. In the pilot phase participants were allowed access to the app for one month and providers accessed provider features from the website. The app included 11 features identified and refined in the formative phases. The most used features in the pilot were check-ins (100%) and direct messaging between participants and providers (100% of participants received a message, 88% of participants sent a message). The community board (36%), goals (32%), and experiences (triggers 28%, encouragements 24%) were all used by about a third of the participants. Patients and providers rated the app as highly usable measured by usability scores (patients 86.9, SD = 10.2, providers 83.3, SD = 12.8) and open-ended questions. Providers and patients reported increased communication and speed of communication using the app. Overall, the pilot provided encouraging support for the continued development of the HOPE app.