Conception and improvement of mHealth Technology to support Smoking Cessation

Abstract

Tobacco use is a public health problem. Electronic technologies support health education, patient follow-up, and smoking cessation. The TabCess application prototype was conceived and developed from 2019 to 2020. This work is justified by the need to improve the tool. To describe the design, development, and improvement process of the TabCess application to support smoking cessation. This qualitative, descriptive, applied two-stage research was conducted at a Brazilian university from January 2021 to March 2022, first with the prototype analysis by IT professionals and then improving the prototype by developing the application’s test version. Qualitative research permeates this entire study since field diaries, technology assessment forms, and weekly discussion reports were submitted to content analysis in thematic modality, elucidating the topics that addressed the needs for adjustments and improvements. In the first stage, the analysis of the screens and tools of the prototype resulted in elaborating the work plan for the inclusion of new sessions evidenced by the analysis themes (registration of goals, application use report, patient's daily report, benefits and harms of tobacco use, passive smoking, educational videos, and coping with cravings). The IT team implemented new screens and environments in the second stage, creating the test version. The IT team and the health team involved in the project ran the usability tests. The new tool was approved for the validation test with experts (pulmonologists, psychologists, and speech therapists), which will be described in another work. TabCess will support those seeking smoking cessation and strengthen anti-smoking strategies. It will be a subsidy for health professionals who work in services and public policies geared toward smoking cessation.