A framework for culturally adapting mental mHealth apps

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Mental Health Interventions
• Cultural Adaptation

Background:

• Mobile health (mHealth) apps enhance access to mental health care.
• Existing digital mental health interventions often fail to adequately serve ethnic minority and migrant populations.
• Current cultural adaptation frameworks for mHealth lack specificity for digital contexts and often omit religious considerations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel framework for culturally responsive design and development of mHealth apps.
• To embed cultural responsiveness throughout the entire digital development lifecycle.
• To offer a practical blueprint for inclusive and ethical digital health product design.

Main Methods:

• A novel framework integrating cultural responsiveness across the mHealth app development lifecycle.
• Four interconnected layers: therapeutic foundation, feature grounding, content tailoring, and UX/UI optimization.
• Participatory co-design and prototyping methodology incorporating cultural and religious insights.

Main Results:

• The framework embeds cultural and religious factors throughout the development process.
• It moves beyond superficial adjustments to deep integration of cultural insights.
• Offers a structured, four-layered approach to app design.

Conclusions:

• The proposed framework provides a practical, inclusive, and ethical blueprint for culturally relevant mHealth apps.
• It emphasizes deep integration of cultural and religious dimensions from the outset.
• Facilitates the development of effective and acceptable digital interventions for diverse populations.