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BackgroundDigital interventions have been identified as a possible tool for reducing the harm caused by illicit drug use among students attending higher education (ie, college students). However, the success of interventions in this area has been hampered by a lack of user involvement and behavior change theory in their design. The My Understanding of Substance use Experiences (MyUSE) project combines a rigorous user-centered design (UCD) methodology and a robust behavioral change framework to develop a digitally delivered harm reduction intervention for illicit drug use among students in higher education. ObjectiveThis project aims to design and develop a digital intervention that targets drug use–related harm among students in higher education. MethodsThe MyUSE project will take place over 3 phases. The first phase was exploratory in nature, involving 3 systematic reviews, a large survey, and student workshops to gather a comprehensive evidence base to guide the project. The second phase is the development stage of the project, involving the use of the Behavior Change Wheel theoretical framework to determine the behavior change techniques of the intervention and the use of the UCD methodology to guide the development of the digital intervention. The third phase is the evaluation stage, whereby the intervention will undergo a 5-stage evaluation process to comprehensively evaluate its impacts. ResultsThe exploratory phase 1 of the MyUSE project was completed in December 2018. Phase 2 is currently underway, and phase 3 is due to begin in September 2020. ConclusionsHigher education institutions (HEIs) are ideally placed to intervene and support students in the area of illicit drug use but are constrained by limited resources. Current digital interventions in this area are sparse and have several weaknesses. The MyUSE project combines a UCD approach with a robust behavior change framework to develop a digitally delivered intervention that is economically viable, effective in changing behavior, usable and acceptable to students, and able to sustain long-term implementation in HEIs. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/17829

BackgroundMobile phone use and, consequently, mobile health (mHealth) interventions have seen an exponential increase in the last decade. There is an excess of 318,000 health-related apps available free of cost for consumers to download. However, many of these interventions are not evaluated and are lacking appropriate regulations. Randomized controlled trials are often considered the gold standard study design in determining the effectiveness of interventions, but recent literature has identified limitations in the methodology when used to evaluate mHealth. ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate the system developers’ experiences of evaluating mHealth interventions in the context of a developing country. MethodsWe employed a qualitative exploratory approach, conducting semistructured interviews with multidisciplinary members of an mHealth project consortium. A conventional content analysis approach was used to allow codes and themes to be identified directly from the data. ResultsThe findings from this study identified the system developers’ perceptions of mHealth evaluation, providing an insight into the requirements of an effective mHealth evaluation. This study identified social and technical factors which should be taken into account when evaluating an mHealth intervention. ConclusionsContextual issues represented one of the most recurrent challenges of mHealth evaluation in the context of a developing country, highlighting the importance of a mixed method evaluation. There is a myriad of social, technical, and regulatory variables, which may impact the effectiveness of an mHealth intervention. Failure to account for these variables in an evaluation may limit the ability of the intervention to achieve long-term implementation and scale.

A major challenge faced by mobile health (mHealth) is identifying an evaluation technique which provides a rigorous evaluation while capturing the unique characteristics of the intervention. This study investigates traditional and emerging methods of mHealth evaluation, identifying existing gaps. This research is a useful first step toward developing an evaluation technique which will facilitate implementation and enable mHealth to reach its potential in accelerating socio-economic development, particularly in Low and Middle Income countries (LMICs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]