We have reached the first milestone in From Framework to Field: Health Apps for Preventative Care with the launch of our web-based Health Apps Self-Assessment demo tool.
The tool is a web-based version of the Health Apps Self-Assessment Checklist and has been designed to give health app developers a practical way to work through key considerations in the safe and effective development of health apps.
Health apps can play an important role in supporting preventative care, but developing them well requires consideration of a wide range of factors. The tool guides developers through areas including quality, safety, privacy and usability, providing a structured way to reflect on these considerations as they build, review or refine their app.
The new tool builds on AIDH’s earlier work evaluating the Australian mHealth Assessment Framework and translating that work into practical resources for the sector.
From checklist to web-based tool
The Health Apps Self-Assessment Checklist provides developers with a set of questions to consider when assessing their app against the Framework. By bringing the checklist into an interactive web format, we want to make it easier to work through the content and more useful as a practical development and review resource.
The tool is intended as guidance and self-assessment support. It does not provide certification, approval or endorsement of an app.
Developing a health app?
We also want to learn from how the tool is used
As well as providing a useful resource now, this work gives us an opportunity to better understand how a web-based self-assessment tool can support the health app development community.
The tool will collect usage analytics, but it does not collect information about individual users, developers or their apps.
Users can also choose to provide feedback after using the tool. We are particularly interested in hearing what worked well, what was unclear and what could make the resource more useful.
This feedback, together with usage analytics, will help us understand the usability and value of the tool and contribute to AIDH’s final report on the project.
What’s next
The web-based tool is one part of From Framework to Field. Over the coming months, we will also be developing a webinar series exploring the use of health apps in preventative care, followed by a self-paced online course covering the same themes.
Together, these resources are intended to provide practical, evidence-based guidance for people developing, assessing, selecting and using health apps in preventative care.
Learn more about From Framework to Field: Health Apps for Preventative Care.