Environmental Hazards and Behavior Change: User Perspectives on the Usability and Effectiveness of the AirRater Smartphone App
Autor: | Grant J. Williamson, Amanda J. Wheeler, David M. J. S. Bowman, Chris Lucani, Penelope J. Jones, Nick Cooling, Fay H. Johnston, Sharon L. Campbell, Annabelle Workman |
---|---|
Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2021 |
Předmět: |
behavior change
Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis Applied psychology air pollution lcsh:Medicine Context (language use) 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences Article 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Humans Generalizability theory 030212 general & internal medicine 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Motivation business.industry lcsh:R Behavior change Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Usability health Mobile Applications smartphone app Action (philosophy) pollen Smartphone app Tracking (education) Disease Susceptibility Smartphone business Decision model |
Zdroj: | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Volume 18 Issue 7 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 3591, p 3591 (2021) |
ISSN: | 1660-4601 1661-7827 |
Popis: | AirRater is a free smartphone app developed in 2015, supporting individuals to protect their health from environmental hazards. It does this by providing (i) location-specific and near real-time air quality, pollen and temperature information and (ii) personal symptom tracking functionality. This research sought to evaluate user perceptions of AirRater’s usability and effectiveness. We collected demographic data and completed semi-structured interviews with 42 AirRater users, identified emergent themes, and used two frameworks designed to understand and support behavior change—the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) and the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM)—to interpret results. Of the 42 participants, almost half indicated that experiencing symptoms acted as a prompt for app use. Information provided by the app supported a majority of the 42 participants to make decisions and implement behaviors to protect their health irrespective of their location or context. The majority of participants also indicated that they shared information provided by the app with family, friends and/or colleagues. The evaluation also identified opportunities to improve the app. Several study limitations were identified, which impacts the generalizability of results beyond the populations studied. Despite these limitations, findings facilitated new insights into motivations for behavior change, and contribute to the existing literature investigating the potential for smartphone apps to support health protection from environmental hazards in a changing climate. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: |