Adapting a mobile app to support patients with anorexia nervosa following post-acute care: perspectives from eating disorder treatment center stakeholders

Frontiers in Digital Health · 10 authors, 5 centres

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TL;DR

Participants expressed high interest (mean 4.27 out of 5) in and moderate comfort (mean 3.82 out of 5) with an app-based intervention, and offered suggestions for app content and features to support recovery after acute treatment.

Full summary

1,036 CHARS

Eleven providers from 7 U.S. eating disorder treatment centers participated in semi-structured interviews analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis framework. Participants described proactive but imperfect approaches to transitioning patients from acute care to outpatient services, noting barriers including low provider availability, location, insurance, financial limitations, and the ambivalent nature of anorexia nervosa. All participants had experience with teletherapy, largely adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and most had experience with tracking apps. Average interest in a proposed mHealth app was 4.27 out of 5, and average comfort was 3.82 out of 5. Participants suggested features including games, voice-guided exposures, videos, podcasts, interactive tools, and a heavily moderated social networking component. Limitations include a lack of demographic diversity among participants (all white, eight female), use of a brief app description rather than a prototype, and analysis conducted by a single rater.

STUDY TYPE

other

SPECIALTY

psychiatry

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AI pipeline

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100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10235779

Adapting a mobile app to support patients with anorexia nervosa following post-acute care: perspectives from eating disorder treatment center stakeholders

Frontiers in Digital Health

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ABSTRACT

Abstract Introduction Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a harmful, life-threatening illness. Patients with severe AN often receive acute treatment but, upon discharge, experience high relapse rates. Evidence-based, outpatient treatment following acute care is critical to preventing relapse; however, numerous barriers (e.g., location, financial limitations, low availability of providers) preclude individuals from accessing treatment. mHealth technologies may help to address these barriers, but research on such digital approaches for those with AN is limited. Further, such technologies should be developed with all relevant stakeholder input considered from the outset. As such, the present study aimed to garner feedback from eating disorder (ED) treatment center providers on (1) the process of discharging patients to outpatient services, (2) their experiences with technology as a treatment tool, and (3) how future mHealth technologies may be harnessed to offer the most benefit to patients in the post-acute period. Methods Participants ( N = 11, from 7 ED treatment centers across the United States) were interviewed. To analyze the data for this study, each interview was manually transcribed and analyzed using components of Braun and Clarke's six-phase thematic analysis framework (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Results Participants indicated proactively securing outpatient care for their patients, but mentioned several barriers their patients face in accessing evidence-based ED treatment. All participants had some experience using various technologies for treatment (e.g., teletherapy, self-monitoring apps), and mentioned a high level of interest in the development of a new app to be used by patients recently discharged from acute treatment for AN. Participants also offered suggestions of effective and relevant content for a potential app and adjunctive social networking component for post-acute care of AN. Discussion Overall, participants expressed positive attitudes toward the integration of an app into the care flow, suggesting the high potential benefit of harnessing technology to support individuals recovering from AN. Keywords: anorexia nervosa, eating disorders, mobile intervention, social networking, post-acute treatment, stakeholder engagement

CITATION EXPORT

Anneliese Haas, Agatha A Laboe, Claire G McGinnis et al.. Adapting a mobile app to support patients with anorexia nervosa following post-acute care: perspectives from eating disorder treatment center stakeholders. Frontiers in Digital Health. (2023). https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2023.1099718

AUTHORS

10 · 5 CENTRES

Anneliese Haas, Agatha A Laboe, Claire G McGinnis, Marie-Laure Firebaugh, Jillian Shah, Anna M Bardone-Cone, Kathleen M Pike, C Barr Taylor, Denise E Wilfley, Ellen E Fitzsimmons-Craft

1Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
2Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
3Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
4Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
5Center for m2Health, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA, United States