Nominal Groups to Develop a Mobile Application on Healthy Habits

Abstract

The new pandemic-lockdown situation has caused empowerment of new technologies; mobile phones and computers have gained further importance. Homes have become the new educators of health since health education has decreased or stopped during the pandemic. The lack of knowledge in the child and adolescent population about how to incorporate healthy habits in their daily lives, along with the rise of health devices and the introduction of healthcare in the syllabus, has led to the realization of the present study. The aim of this study was to identify the relevant health topics in a sample of adolescents for the later development of a mobile application (Healthy Jeart) that promotes the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits in adolescence. The information was gathered through the technique of nominal groups. The sample was recruited by nonprobability purposive sampling, with a total of 92 students from 4 educational centers of the province of Huelva (Spain). According to the obtained results, the most relevant categories were physical wellbeing (40.81%), psychological wellbeing (22.13%), interpersonal relationships and social skills (21.58%), toxic substances and addictions (10.35%) and sex habits (1.83%). This technique allowed identifying and selecting the most relevant content areas of the “Healthy Jeart” application.

An App about Healthy Habits as an Educational Resource during the Pandemic

“…This coincides with the rise of the use of mobile devices (mainly smartphones and tablets) and with the scientific evidence of the impact of healthy apps on public health. In the current context, it is important to emphasize that different studies have reported that apps are helping in the struggle against COVID-19 [ 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”

Promoting Health Education through Mobile Apps: A Quantitative Analysis of American Hospitals

“…[ 43 ]. Finally, we analyzed mobile apps because these tools allow hospitals to make their health education campaigns more dynamic and creative [ 28 ]. Additionally, thanks to these apps, patients can control medical metrics and improve their healthcare outcomes [ 44 ].…”

“…Promoting health education constitutes a social priority, especially when people face pandemics, as was recently the case with the COVID-19 outbreak [ 27 ]. To efficiently manage this pandemic, three main types of organizations were involved: international organizations, governments, and citizens [ 28 ]. International organizations worked together to analyze test results, symptoms, and treatments, and based on that, they implemented health education campaigns to curve the COVID-19 pandemic [ 29 ].…”

“…International organizations, governments, and citizens were not the only ones to actively fight COVID-19. Health professionals played the most important role: they worked hard to help patients accept new medical protocols and promote healthy habits [ 28 ]. Unfortunately, many of these professionals did not receive enough support from their organizations—in the form of security measures, financial help, or psychological support—which made it difficult for them to efficiently implement health education initiatives [ 33 ].…”

Confirmatory Validation of an Evaluation Instrument for Interventions Based on the Healthy Habits App Healthy Jeart with Adolescents

“…This app was designed by researchers of the Universities of Seville and Huelva [ 25 ] to promote healthy lifestyles with a global approach on health. It fits the needs and concerns of young people, as the design process was initiated with the development of nominal groups with which relevant topics to address were identified [ 26 ].…”