Designing a Mobile App for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Insights From Lived Experience and Clinical Practice

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling anxiety disorder precipitated by severe trauma. Many people with this condition have little access to clinical interventions, especially in low-middle-income countries. For the development of any digital health intervention, it is vital to know the opinions of PLE and clinicians to guide the developers. We conducted two focus groups, one with clinicians (n = 5) and one with people with lived experience (PLE) (n = 11), to gain knowledge of their views on the development of a PTSD App. Transcripts of both focus groups were coded and thematically analysed. The key themes that emerged from the PLE group were the importance of ease of use with clear, brief, positive but not patronising communication; control over the App styling; and the desire for a variety of interventions and outcome measures. For the clinical group, main themes included bite-sized positive communication, App providing a choice of interventions and outcome measures while monitoring progress. Both groups talked positively about how gamification might be helpful. Our small study highlights that co-producing health Apps, such as the proposed PTSD one with lived experience and clinicians, ensures accessible, non-patronising design, meaningful choice, and scalable digital support to extend care where services remain limited.