Dataset Information

BackUp: Development and evaluation of a smart-phone application for coping with suicidal crises.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Suicide is a major public health issue and has large impact on the lives of many people. Innovative technologies such as smartphones could create new possibilities for suicide prevention, such as helping to overcome the barriers and stigma on help seeking in case of suicidal ideation. Due to their omnipresence, smartphone apps can offer suicide prevention tools very fast, they are easily-accessible, low-threshold and can help overcome some of the help-seeking barriers suicidal people experience. This article describes the development, testing and implementation of a mobile application for coping with suicidal crisis: BackUp.

Methods

Based on the analysis of literature and existing suicide prevention apps several tools were identified as relevant to include in a suicide prevention app. The selected tools (a safety planning tool, a hope box, a coping cards module, and a module to reach out) are evidence based in a face to face context, and could be easily transferred into a mobile app. The testing of existing apps and the literature also revealed important guidelines for the technical development of the application.

Results

BackUp was developed and tested by an expert panel (n = 9) and a panel of end users (n = 21). Both groups rated BackUp as valuable for suicide prevention. Suicidal ideation of the end user group was measured using the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation before and after testing BackUp, and showed a small but non-significant decrease. The majority of the testers used BackUp several times. All tools were evaluated as rather or very useable in times of suicidal crisis.

Conclusion

BackUp was positively evaluated and indicates that self-help tools can have a positive impact on suicidal ideation. Apps in particular create opportunities in approaching people that are not reached by traditional interventions; on the other hand they can contribute to suicide prevention in addition to regular care. However, more research is needed on the impact and effect of suicide prevention apps.

SUBMITTER: Pauwels K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5479535 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

BackUp: Development and evaluation of a smart-phone application for coping with suicidal crises.

Pauwels Kirsten K Aerts Saskia S Muijzers Ekke E De Jaegere Eva E van Heeringen Kees K Portzky Gwendolyn G

PloS one 20170621 6

<h4>Background</h4>Suicide is a major public health issue and has large impact on the lives of many people. Innovative technologies such as smartphones could create new possibilities for suicide prevention, such as helping to overcome the barriers and stigma on help seeking in case of suicidal ideation. Due to their omnipresence, smartphone apps can offer suicide prevention tools very fast, they are easily-accessible, low-threshold and can help overcome some of the help-seeking barriers suicidal ...[more]

PMID: 28636617

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Project description:BackgroundThis study aimed to design a gamified smartphone application (app) and assess its efficacy for education of mothers regarding oral healthcare of their children.MethodsIn this pretest-posttest controlled clinical trial, a simple app and a gamified version of it were designed to enhance the oral health knowledge and practice of mothers. The app contains information about early childhood caries, health diet, sugars, baby-oral hygiene, fluoride effect, fluoride toothpaste, tooth-brushing training video and regular dental visits. The opinion of experts and 3 mothers were obtained and both apps were revised accordingly. The intervention was implemented on mothers of preschoolers referring to the specialty dental clinic of Tehran School of Dentistry in 2019. The mothers were randomly allocated to the simple app or gamified app group. Before the intervention, all mothers filled out a questionnaire regarding oral health knowledge and practice, and their demographics were collected. The plaque index (PI) of children was also measured. The mothers filled out the same questionnaire 1 month after the intervention, and the PI of children was measured again. Paired t test and linear regression model were used for statistical analysis of the data.ResultsTotally, 58 mother and child pairs entered the study; 40% of children were boys. The mean age of children was 4.7 ± 1.2 years. The mean knowledge score of mothers in the pretest was 10.5 and 11.3 in simple app and gamified app group, respectively, which changed to 13.1 and 14.3, respectively in the posttest. The mean practice score of mothers was 4.4 and 4.8 in simple app and gamified app groups, respectively in the pretest, which changed to 8.5 and 8, respectively in the posttest. The mean dental plaque index of children in the pretest was 0.8 and 1 in simple app and gamified app groups, respectively, which changed to 0.5 and 0.5, respectively in the posttest. Children had better Plaque control in gamified app group (P < 0.05).ConclusionAfter 1 month, both apps effectively improved the oral-health knowledge and practice of mothers while oral hygiene as a result of plaque control was superior in children of mothers using the gamified app. Trial registration IRCT, IRCT20131102015238N2. Registered 24 February 2019-Retrospectively registered, https://fa.irct.ir/trial/36600 .

Project description:BACKGROUND:Continuing education aims at assisting physicians to maintain competency and expose them to emerging issues in their field. Over the last decade, approaches to the delivery of educational content have changed dramatically as medical education at all levels is now benefitting from the use of web-based content and applications for mobile devices. The aim of the present study is to investigate through a randomized trial the effectiveness of a smart phone application to increase public health service physicians' (PHS physicians) knowledge regarding pediatric oral health care. METHOD:Five of all seven DHCs (District Health Center) in Tehran, which were under the supervision of Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Iran University of Medical Sciences, were selected for our study. Physicians of one DHC had participated in a pilot study. All PHS physicians in the other four centers were invited to the current study on a voluntary basis (n = 107). They completed a self-administered questionnaire regarding their knowledge, attitudes, practice in pediatric dentistry, and background. PHS physicians were assigned randomly to intervention and control groups; those in the intervention group, received a newly designed evidence-based smartphone application, and those in the control group received a booklet, a CME seminar, and a pamphlet. A post-intervention survey was administered 4 months later and t-test and repeated measures ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance) were performed to measure the difference in the PHS physicians' knowledge, attitude and practice. RESULTS:In both groups, the mean knowledge scores were significantly higher (p-Value < 0.001) in post-intervention data compared to those at baseline. Similar results existed in attitude and practice scores. Although the scores in knowledge in the intervention group indicating potentially greater improvement when compared to those of the control group, the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant (dif: 0.84, 95% CI - 0.35 to 2.02). CONCLUSION:In the light of the limitations of the present study, smart phone applications could improve knowledge, attitude and practice in physicians although this method was not superior to the conventional method of CME. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Our clinical trial had been registered in Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (registration code: IRCT2016091029765N1).

Dataset Information

BackUp: Development and evaluation of a smart-phone application for coping with suicidal crises.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

BackUp: Development and evaluation of a smart-phone application for coping with suicidal crises.

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