Development and Usability of the OHiFamily Mobile App to Enhance Accessibility to Maternal and Infant Information for Expectant Families in Ohio: Qualitative Study

BackgroundThe Infant Mortality Research Partnership in Ohio is working to help pregnant individuals and families on Medicaid who are at risk for infant mortality and preterm birth. As part of this initiative, researchers at The Ohio State University worked to develop a patien...

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Main Authors: Natalie Perme, Endia Reid, Macdonald Chinwenwa Eluagu, John Thompson, Courtney Hebert, Steven Gabbe, Christine Marie Swoboda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2024-11-01
Series:JMIR Formative Research
Online Access:https://formative.jmir.org/2024/1/e53299
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author Natalie Perme
Endia Reid
Macdonald Chinwenwa Eluagu
John Thompson
Courtney Hebert
Steven Gabbe
Christine Marie Swoboda
author_facet Natalie Perme
Endia Reid
Macdonald Chinwenwa Eluagu
John Thompson
Courtney Hebert
Steven Gabbe
Christine Marie Swoboda
author_sort Natalie Perme
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundThe Infant Mortality Research Partnership in Ohio is working to help pregnant individuals and families on Medicaid who are at risk for infant mortality and preterm birth. As part of this initiative, researchers at The Ohio State University worked to develop a patient-facing mobile app, OHiFamily, targeted toward, and created for, this population. To address the social determinants of health that can affect maternal and infant health, the app provides curated information on community resources, health care services, and educational materials in a format that is easily accessible and intended to facilitate contact between families and resources. The OHiFamily app includes 3 distinct features, that is, infant care logging (eg, feeding and diaper changes), curated educational resources, and a link to the curated Ohio resource database (CORD). This paper describes the development and assessment of the OHiFamily app as well as CORD. ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe the development of the OHiFamily mobile app and CORD and the qualitative feedback received by the app’s intended audience. MethodsThe researchers performed a landscape analysis and held focus groups to determine the resources and app features of interest to Ohio families on Medicaid. ResultsParticipants from several focus groups were interested in an app that could offer community resources with contact information, information about medical providers and information and ways to contact them, health tips, and information about pregnancy and infant development. Feedback was provided by 9 participants through 3 focus group sessions. Using this feedback, the team created a curated resource database and mobile app to help users locate and access resources, as well as access education materials and infant tracking features. ConclusionsOHiFamily offers a unique combination of features and access to local resources for families on Medicaid in Ohio not seen in other smartphone apps.
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spelling doaj-art-72cec2ed3cf04a23b7a51552e08bccf32024-11-08T21:30:59ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2024-11-018e5329910.2196/53299Development and Usability of the OHiFamily Mobile App to Enhance Accessibility to Maternal and Infant Information for Expectant Families in Ohio: Qualitative StudyNatalie Permehttps://orcid.org/0009-0009-1836-4156Endia Reidhttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-2466-2314Macdonald Chinwenwa Eluaguhttps://orcid.org/0009-0002-7412-7373John Thompsonhttps://orcid.org/0009-0009-6153-4149Courtney Heberthttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1646-702XSteven Gabbehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8578-3264Christine Marie Swobodahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2085-2126 BackgroundThe Infant Mortality Research Partnership in Ohio is working to help pregnant individuals and families on Medicaid who are at risk for infant mortality and preterm birth. As part of this initiative, researchers at The Ohio State University worked to develop a patient-facing mobile app, OHiFamily, targeted toward, and created for, this population. To address the social determinants of health that can affect maternal and infant health, the app provides curated information on community resources, health care services, and educational materials in a format that is easily accessible and intended to facilitate contact between families and resources. The OHiFamily app includes 3 distinct features, that is, infant care logging (eg, feeding and diaper changes), curated educational resources, and a link to the curated Ohio resource database (CORD). This paper describes the development and assessment of the OHiFamily app as well as CORD. ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe the development of the OHiFamily mobile app and CORD and the qualitative feedback received by the app’s intended audience. MethodsThe researchers performed a landscape analysis and held focus groups to determine the resources and app features of interest to Ohio families on Medicaid. ResultsParticipants from several focus groups were interested in an app that could offer community resources with contact information, information about medical providers and information and ways to contact them, health tips, and information about pregnancy and infant development. Feedback was provided by 9 participants through 3 focus group sessions. Using this feedback, the team created a curated resource database and mobile app to help users locate and access resources, as well as access education materials and infant tracking features. ConclusionsOHiFamily offers a unique combination of features and access to local resources for families on Medicaid in Ohio not seen in other smartphone apps.https://formative.jmir.org/2024/1/e53299
spellingShingle Natalie Perme
Endia Reid
Macdonald Chinwenwa Eluagu
John Thompson
Courtney Hebert
Steven Gabbe
Christine Marie Swoboda
Development and Usability of the OHiFamily Mobile App to Enhance Accessibility to Maternal and Infant Information for Expectant Families in Ohio: Qualitative Study
JMIR Formative Research
title Development and Usability of the OHiFamily Mobile App to Enhance Accessibility to Maternal and Infant Information for Expectant Families in Ohio: Qualitative Study
title_full Development and Usability of the OHiFamily Mobile App to Enhance Accessibility to Maternal and Infant Information for Expectant Families in Ohio: Qualitative Study
title_fullStr Development and Usability of the OHiFamily Mobile App to Enhance Accessibility to Maternal and Infant Information for Expectant Families in Ohio: Qualitative Study
title_full_unstemmed Development and Usability of the OHiFamily Mobile App to Enhance Accessibility to Maternal and Infant Information for Expectant Families in Ohio: Qualitative Study
title_short Development and Usability of the OHiFamily Mobile App to Enhance Accessibility to Maternal and Infant Information for Expectant Families in Ohio: Qualitative Study
title_sort development and usability of the ohifamily mobile app to enhance accessibility to maternal and infant information for expectant families in ohio qualitative study
url https://formative.jmir.org/2024/1/e53299
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