[Paper Review] Mobile Apps for Children's Health and Wellbeing: Design Features and Future Opportunities

Jamie Lee, Zhaoyuan Su+1 more|PubMed|Jul 31, 2023

Mobile Health and mHealth Applications11 references4 citations

TL;DR

This study analyzes 43 children's health mobile apps from the Apple and Google Play stores to identify design features, user roles, and engagement strategies. It reveals a lack of apps supporting chronic illness management, ambiguous user roles, and insufficient age-appropriate design, offering recommendations for improving engagement, dual-use collaboration, and digital health safety for children and caregivers.

ABSTRACT

Mobile health apps hold great potential for promoting children's health and wellbeing. However, there is limited understanding of how these technologies are currently designed to support children with their health concerns or wellness goals. To gain insight into the current landscape of mobile apps designed for children's health, we retrieved and reviewed 43 apps from IOS and Google Play store that are specifically marketed for children. Our qualitative analysis identified the dominant health focuses and goals of children's mobile health apps. We analyzed the primary users and their expectations as well as the methods of engagement and involvement adopted. Based on our findings, we discussed the opportunities to support children with chronic illnesses through mobile apps, design for dual use, and design for age appropriateness and digital health safety. This study provides insights and recommendations for app designers, health researchers, and policymakers on strategies for engaging children and parents while also promoting children's health and wellbeing through mobile technology.

Motivation & Objective

• To understand the current landscape of mobile health apps designed for children’s health and wellbeing.
• To identify dominant health focuses and goals in commercially available children’s health apps.
• To examine the roles of children and parents/caregivers as users and their expectations in app engagement.
• To explore design strategies for age-appropriateness and digital health safety in children’s mobile health applications.
• To provide actionable recommendations for app designers, researchers, and policymakers.

Proposed method

• Conducted a systematic search of the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in October 2022 using child-related and health-related keywords.
• Applied eligibility criteria to select 43 free apps specifically marketed for children and teenagers.
• Performed qualitative analysis of app features, user roles, engagement strategies, and user reviews.
• Categorized apps into four primary health focuses and identified five main goals.
• Analyzed user reviews to extract insights on usability, age appropriateness, and parental concerns.
• Used thematic analysis to identify patterns in design, user involvement, and safety considerations.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the primary health focuses and goals of mobile apps designed for children’s health and wellbeing?
• RQ2 Who are the intended users of these apps, and what roles do children and parents/caregivers play in their use?
• RQ3 How are children and parents engaged or involved in the design and functionality of these apps?
• RQ4 To what extent are apps designed with age-appropriate content and digital health safety in mind?
• RQ5 What opportunities exist for improving mobile health apps in supporting chronic illness management and family collaboration?

Key findings

• Forty-three mobile health apps were identified, with the majority focusing on general wellness, nutrition, physical activity, and mental health, while few addressed chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes, or ADHD.
• Children and parents/caregivers are both expected users, indicating a dual-use model, though user roles were often ambiguous in app design.
• Many apps failed to differentiate content or interface design by age group, leading to user feedback that content was inappropriate for the child’s developmental stage.
• A significant number of apps lacked transparency in data usage policies and included potentially unsuitable advertisements, raising parental concerns about privacy and safety.
• User engagement strategies were often limited to gamification or basic reminders, with few apps supporting collaborative health tracking or shared decision-making between children and caregivers.
• There is a notable gap in apps designed to support children with chronic illnesses, suggesting a critical underserved need in the current market.