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User Experience of Mobile Coaching for Stress-Management to Tackle Prevalent Health Complaints

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Nordic Contributions in IS Research (SCIS 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 223))

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Abstract

In recent years, mobile and web-based solutions for health and well-being have become popular. The topic that has been covered the most has been the promotion of physical health, although the importance of mental and social well-being has also been acknowledged recently. Studies have shown that mental health interventions can be successfully designed to be delivered via mobile channels. However, the role of mobile applications in disease prevention and self-management of health is not so well understood. The aim of this study is to explore the need for stress-management solutions by studying the prevalence of health complaints in an academic organization (n = 756). It also describes findings from a field study exploring the user experience of a mobile coaching application for stress-management among the three most prevalent complaint groups (n = 30). The findings show that the three most prevalent complaints are tiredness, depression, and neck problems. All of the 13 complaints were more common among women than men, except loneliness and problems in social life. User experience study showed that most participants found the application useful and they would recommend it to other people. Use activity of the mobile coaching application was highest among the tiredness group. The findings are especially useful in the design new solutions for disease prevention and self-management of health.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been partly funded by a grant from Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation as part of Digital Health Revolution programme. The multi-disciplinary programme is coordinated and managed by Center for Health and Technology, University of Oulu, Finland. This research was part of the OASIS research group of Martti Ahtisaari Institute, University of Oulu.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Kaitoväylä 1, P.O. Box 1100, 90571, Oulu, Finland

    Marja Harjumaa

  2. Faculty of Information Technology and Engineering, OASIS Research Group, University of Oulu, Paavo Havaksen tie 3, 90570, Oulu, Finland

    Kirsi Halttu, Kati Koistinen & Harri Oinas-Kukkonen

Authors
  1. Marja Harjumaa
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  2. Kirsi Halttu
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  3. Kati Koistinen
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  4. Harri Oinas-Kukkonen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marja Harjumaa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Harri Oinas-Kukkonen

  2. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Netta Iivari

  3. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Kari Kuutti

  4. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Anssi Öörni

  5. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Mikko Rajanen

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Harjumaa, M., Halttu, K., Koistinen, K., Oinas-Kukkonen, H. (2015). User Experience of Mobile Coaching for Stress-Management to Tackle Prevalent Health Complaints. In: Oinas-Kukkonen, H., Iivari, N., Kuutti, K., Öörni, A., Rajanen, M. (eds) Nordic Contributions in IS Research. SCIS 2015. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 223. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21783-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21783-3_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21782-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21783-3

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