The use of eHealth to promote PA in cancer survivors is a relatively new concept, which is supported by the recent emergent evidence described in this review. eHealth shows promise as a means of promoting and increasing daily PA, but further high-quality, longer term studies are needed to establish the feasibility and effectiveness of eHealth platforms aimed at that goal.

Background Achieving adequate levels of physical activity (PA) is especially important for cancer survivors to mitigate the side effects of cancer and its treatment as well as for other health benefits. Electronic health (eHealth)-based PA interventions may offer feasible alternatives to traditionally delivered programs and optimize physical recovery after a cancer diagnosis, but perspectives of cancer survivors on this new delivery medium have not been extensively explored. Objective The overall aim was to explore participants’ perspectives of eHealth-enabled PA interventions to inform the design of a future intervention among cancer survivors. Methods The study took place in a designated cancer center in Dublin, Ireland. A preceding questionnaire-based study was conducted primarily to establish interest in participating in subsequent eHealth-based studies. A follow-on focus group study was conducted to explore the concept of eHealth-based PA interventions for cancer survivors. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results The questionnaire-based study (N=102) indicated that participants had a high level of interest in participating in follow-on eHealth-based studies. The focus group study (n=23) indicated that, despite some trepidation, overall positivity was expressed by participants toward the concept of eHealth-based PA interventions. Four themes were generated: (1) Health impact, including PA as a barrier and as a motivating factor, (2) Education needs, which emphasized the need for integrated information about PA and to increase technical literacy, (3) Goal setting, which should be integrated within the technical specification as a motivating factor, and (4) Support needs, as well as the importance of personalized human interaction, in tandem with technology. Conclusions Qualitative research at the pretrial phase adds value to the design of a complex intervention and is especially useful in an area such as eHealth. The findings highlighted an interest in participating in eHealth-focused research as well as barriers, training needs, and key design features that can be applied to optimize the design of future eHealth-based PA interventions in cancer.

Background: Achieving adequate amounts of physical activity (PA) confers important physical and mental health benefits. Despite this, people with mental health conditions often do not meet recommended levels of PA. eHealth, the delivery of health information through internet and mobile technologies, is an emerging concept in healthcare which presents opportunities to improve PA. The aim of this systematic review is to describe the use of eHealth to increase or monitor PA levels in people with mental health conditions. Methods: Databases searched included OVID Medline, EMBASE, PsychInfo and Web of Science using a combination of key-words and medical subject headings. Articles were included if they described an eHealth technology designed to improve or monitor PA in people with mental health conditions. Two reviewers screened articles. Articles included in the qualitative synthesis were screened for risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for experimental studies and Downs and Black Checklist for non-experimental studies. Results: Seven studies met the eligibility criteria. A variety of eHealth platforms designed to promote or monitor PA were described in these studies; web-based (n=4), web and mobile application (n=3) and e-mail-based (n=1), one study used both a web-based and mobile application. Three studies reported eHealth interventions significantly increased PA levels, however it is unclear if eHealth interventions are superior at promoting PA compared to conventional interventions. Four studies reported that higher levels of PA, measured using eHealth, were associated with better mental health profiles.  Conclusion: eHealth interventions may be an innovative low-cost method to increase PA levels which may have knock-on effects on mental health outcomes. Although some of the included studies in this review demonstrated promising results, methodological restrictions and potential biases from using subjective measures of PA limit the interpretability of these results. Future research should evaluate this promising technology using well-designed trials.

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Background: Achieving adequate amounts of physical activity (PA) confers important physical and mental health benefits. Despite this, individuals with mental health conditions often do not meet recommended levels of PA. eHealth, the delivery of health information through internet and mobile technologies, is an emerging concept in healthcare which presents opportunities to improve PA in people with mental conditions. The aim of this systematic review is to explore if eHealth interventions increase PA levels among individuals with mental health conditions. Methods: Databases searched included OVID Medline, EMBASE, PsychInfo and Web of Science using a combination of key-words and medical subject headings. Articles were included if they described an eHealth intervention designed to improve PA in individuals with mental health conditions. Two reviewers screened articles for inclusion. Results: In total 2,994 articles were identified. Seven studies met the eligibility criteria. A variety of eHealth platforms designed to increase PA were described in these studies; web-based (n=4), web and mobile application (n=3) and e-mail-based (n=1), one study used both a web-based and mobile application. Three studies reported eHealth intervention significantly increased PA levels. Four studies reported that higher levels of PA resulted in improvements in mental health outcomes.  Conclusion: eHealth interventions may be an innovative low cost method to increase PA levels which may have knock-on effects on mental health outcomes. Although some of the included studies in this review demonstrated promising results, methodological restrictions and potential biases from using subjective measures of PA limit the interpretability of these results.  Future research should evaluate this nascent technology using well designed trials.