Health Literate Mobile Apps: A Healthfinder.Gov Case Study

Background:  In January 2014, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a discussion paper entitled “Designing Health Literate Mobile Apps.” The article was co-authored by members of the health communication division at the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, as well as a member of the IOM Roundtable on Health Literacy. The discussion paper highlights the need for mobile health applications that are designed using health literacy principles in order to improve the health and wellness of the population. It discusses strategies for developers to use in creating health literate mobile apps, and offers a case study of the healthfinder mobile app challenge winner, myfamily.

Program background:  healthfinder.gov is a user-tested, two-time ClearMark award-winning, federal prevention website whose mission is to help the public make informed health decisions by providing accurate, timely, and actionable information. In April 2013, ODPHP introduced the winner of its healthfinder.gov Mobile App Challenge, which challenged developers to work together with health professionals and potential end users to co-design a mobile app that makes healthfinder.gov content customizable and easy to use. The myfamily app was designed using health literacy principles, and tested both on and offline with potential end users. With the myfamily App, you can:

• Access customized prevention and wellness information for each member of your family
• Keep track of your medical visits and vaccinations
• Organize upcoming appointments and health reminders
• Find health services near you
• Browse all healthfinder.gov health topics from A-Z

Evaluation Methods and Results:  ODPHP tracks the number of downloads each week; to date the app has over 7,000 downloads. ODPHP and the app developer, Lyfechannel, are also brokering partnerships with healthcare and health insurance providers to continue to build the effectiveness of myfamily and expand on its offerings. Myfamily offers Blue Button connectivity and is certified as a Blue Button provider. Additionally, myfamily is being integrated into the AllScripts EHRs.

Conclusions:  The myfamily app serves as an ongoing case study of offering users health literate tailored, evidence-based prevention and wellness content that is easy to use and understand, and is accessible anywhere and at any time.

Implications for research and/or practice:  This case study demonstrates how to develop health literate, customer-centric content and engage end users, and healthcare partners, through mobile platforms.