'Parentbot - A Digital healthcare Assistant (PDA)': A mobile application-based perinatal intervention for parents:
Joelle Yan Xin Chua1, Mahesh Choolani2, Cornelia Yin Ing Chee3
1Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Insights
Parentbot, a mobile app with chatbot features, was developed as a digital healthcare assistant for Singaporean parents. User testing showed a positive experience, informing further enhancements for this digital parenting support tool.
Area of Science:
- Digital health interventions
- Mobile health (mHealth)
- Parenting support
Background:
- Parenting support programs are crucial during the perinatal period.
- Mobile applications offer a scalable platform for delivering health interventions.
- Digital healthcare assistants can provide accessible, on-demand support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the development of Parentbot, a mobile application-based parenting support program.
- To integrate chatbot features for enhanced user interaction.
- To cater to multi-racial Singaporean parents during the perinatal period.
Main Methods:
- Development guided by information systems research framework and design thinking.
- Tuckman's model of team development informed the process.
- User acceptability testing (UAT) involved 11 adults, using custom evaluation forms and the User Experience Questionnaire.
Main Results:
- The development framework facilitated the creation of a user-centered PDA prototype.
- UAT indicated a positive overall user experience with the digital healthcare assistant.
- Participant feedback was incorporated to refine and improve the PDA.
Conclusions:
- The development process of this mobile parenting intervention offers valuable insights for future studies.
- While effectiveness is under evaluation, the development methodology is highlighted.
- Key factors like planning, funding, team cohesion, and leadership are crucial for intervention development.
Objective:
To describe the development procedure of a mobile application-based parenting support program with integrated chatbot features entitled Parentbot - a Digital healthcare Assistant (PDA) for multi-racial Singaporean parents across the perinatal period.
Methods:
The PDA development process was guided by the combined information systems research framework with design thinking modes, and Tuckman's model of team development. A user acceptability testing (UAT) process was conducted among 11 adults of child-bearing age. Feedback was obtained using a custom-made evaluation form and the 26-item User Experience Questionnaire.
Results:
The combined information systems research framework with design thinking modes helped researchers to successfully create a PDA prototype based on end-users' needs. Results from the UAT process indicated that the PDA provided participants with an overall positive user experience. Feedback gathered from UAT participants was used to enhance the PDA.
Conclusion:
Although the effectiveness of the PDA in improving parental outcomes during the perinatal period is still being evaluated, this paper highlights the key details of developing a mobile application-based parenting intervention which future studies could learn from.
Practice Implications:
Having carefully planned timelines with margins of delays, extra funds to resolve technical issues, team cohesion, and an experienced leader can facilitate intervention development.
