A mobile app intervention to support nutrition education for heart failure management: co-design, development and user-testing
Abstract Background Mobile apps show promise in supporting patients with heart failure (HF) in adhering to dietary guidelines for sodium and fluid. Though numerous apps to support HF management exist, only a few have dedicated features to support dietary adherence. Objectives To describe the process...
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| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Nutrition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-025-01117-y |
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| author | Bridve Sivakumar Maria Ricupero Anisha Mahajan Katherine Jefferson John Wenger Jillianne Code Alex Theodorou JoAnne Arcand |
| author_facet | Bridve Sivakumar Maria Ricupero Anisha Mahajan Katherine Jefferson John Wenger Jillianne Code Alex Theodorou JoAnne Arcand |
| author_sort | Bridve Sivakumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Mobile apps show promise in supporting patients with heart failure (HF) in adhering to dietary guidelines for sodium and fluid. Though numerous apps to support HF management exist, only a few have dedicated features to support dietary adherence. Objectives To describe the process and outcomes from the development and testing of Sodium Navigator HF , a mobile app intervention to engage patients with HF in dietary education and adherence. Methods Background research in app development, behaviour change, nutrition and qualitative interviews with patients and healthcare providers informed app content and design. Weekly team meetings were held to establish learning objectives, content, and features of the app until a prototype was developed and approved by the research team. Using a quasi-experimental mixed-methods design, patients with HF (≥ 18 years) evaluated the prototype via one-on-one online user-testing sessions. App engagement, satisfaction, and usability were measured using a 12-question patient-reported Likert-scale questionnaire. Participant feedback on app content and features was gathered using qualitative interviews. Results Six educational modules (dietary sodium recommendations, contributors of sodium in the diet, nutrition labelling, lowering dietary sodium, fluid restriction and goal setting), ten behaviour change techniques (e.g., feedback on behaviour, social support) and gamified components (i.e., avatar, point-system) were integrated into the app. Participants with HF (n = 10, 56±15 years, 80% women) enjoyed using the app (90%), strongly agreed that the information was meaningful and useful for their general health (80%) and was easy to use (70%). Conclusion Results demonstrate the potential of Sodium Navigator HF to support patients with dietary education and adherence for HF management. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e596d105bd8142f4ada4ef23117231e5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2055-0928 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Nutrition |
| spelling | doaj-art-e596d105bd8142f4ada4ef23117231e52025-08-20T03:45:51ZengBMCBMC Nutrition2055-09282025-07-0111111110.1186/s40795-025-01117-yA mobile app intervention to support nutrition education for heart failure management: co-design, development and user-testingBridve Sivakumar0Maria Ricupero1Anisha Mahajan2Katherine Jefferson3John Wenger4Jillianne Code5Alex Theodorou6JoAnne Arcand7Faculty of Health Science, Ontario Tech UniversityUniversity of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public HealthFaculty of Health Science, Ontario Tech UniversityFaculty of Health Science, Ontario Tech UniversityFaculty of Health Science, Ontario Tech UniversityFaculty of Education, University of British ColumbiaNeurofit VR IncFaculty of Health Science, Ontario Tech UniversityAbstract Background Mobile apps show promise in supporting patients with heart failure (HF) in adhering to dietary guidelines for sodium and fluid. Though numerous apps to support HF management exist, only a few have dedicated features to support dietary adherence. Objectives To describe the process and outcomes from the development and testing of Sodium Navigator HF , a mobile app intervention to engage patients with HF in dietary education and adherence. Methods Background research in app development, behaviour change, nutrition and qualitative interviews with patients and healthcare providers informed app content and design. Weekly team meetings were held to establish learning objectives, content, and features of the app until a prototype was developed and approved by the research team. Using a quasi-experimental mixed-methods design, patients with HF (≥ 18 years) evaluated the prototype via one-on-one online user-testing sessions. App engagement, satisfaction, and usability were measured using a 12-question patient-reported Likert-scale questionnaire. Participant feedback on app content and features was gathered using qualitative interviews. Results Six educational modules (dietary sodium recommendations, contributors of sodium in the diet, nutrition labelling, lowering dietary sodium, fluid restriction and goal setting), ten behaviour change techniques (e.g., feedback on behaviour, social support) and gamified components (i.e., avatar, point-system) were integrated into the app. Participants with HF (n = 10, 56±15 years, 80% women) enjoyed using the app (90%), strongly agreed that the information was meaningful and useful for their general health (80%) and was easy to use (70%). Conclusion Results demonstrate the potential of Sodium Navigator HF to support patients with dietary education and adherence for HF management.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-025-01117-yHeart failuremHealtheHealthMobile appsDietNutrition |
| spellingShingle | Bridve Sivakumar Maria Ricupero Anisha Mahajan Katherine Jefferson John Wenger Jillianne Code Alex Theodorou JoAnne Arcand A mobile app intervention to support nutrition education for heart failure management: co-design, development and user-testing BMC Nutrition Heart failure mHealth eHealth Mobile apps Diet Nutrition |
| title | A mobile app intervention to support nutrition education for heart failure management: co-design, development and user-testing |
| title_full | A mobile app intervention to support nutrition education for heart failure management: co-design, development and user-testing |
| title_fullStr | A mobile app intervention to support nutrition education for heart failure management: co-design, development and user-testing |
| title_full_unstemmed | A mobile app intervention to support nutrition education for heart failure management: co-design, development and user-testing |
| title_short | A mobile app intervention to support nutrition education for heart failure management: co-design, development and user-testing |
| title_sort | mobile app intervention to support nutrition education for heart failure management co design development and user testing |
| topic | Heart failure mHealth eHealth Mobile apps Diet Nutrition |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-025-01117-y |
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