Schueller, S.M., Begale, M., Penedo, F.J., & Mohr, D.C. (2014). Purple: A modular system for developing and deploying behavioral intervention technologies. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(7), e181. PMCID: PMC4129186.
Most behavioral health technologies are currently designed for one specific purpose, such as delivering a unique depression intervention. Each group of researchers usually designs a program with specific features that can’t always be generalized to other projects. This study describes the development of Purple, a modular framework for web-based behavioral health programs and smartphone applications. Purple was designed to be flexible and adaptable for creating a variety of different behavioral health interventions. The program offers several core elements that allow researchers to create, manage, and evaluate behavioral health programs. Purple has components to support user management, content authorship, content delivery, and data management. This article also describes two case studies of programs using Purple. The first tested a smartphone application to improve depression symptoms by increasing participation in positive activities. The second program was tablet-based and offered cognitive behavioral therapy stress management to survivors of prostate cancer. These programs provide initial evidence for the flexibility of Purple for wide range of behavioral health interventions.