From Foucault to Freire Through Facebook: Toward an Integrated Theory of mHealth

• Published in: Health Education & Behavior 2016-08, Vol.43 (4), p.399-411
• Main Authors: Bull, Sheana, Ezeanochie, Nnamdi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access to Information; Educational Technology; Female; Handheld Devices; Health Behavior; Health Promotion; Health Promotion - methods; Humans; Literature Reviews; Male; Meta Analysis; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Psychological Theory; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Review; Social Media; Social Media - utilization; Social Sciences; Social Support; Social Support Groups; Social Theories; Social Theory; Teaching Methods; Technology Uses in Education; Telecommunications; Telemedicine - methods
• ISSN: 1090-1981; 1552-6127
• DOI: 10.1177/1090198115605310

Objective. To document the integration of social science theory in literature on mHealth (mobile health) and consider opportunities for integration of classic theory, health communication theory, and social networking to generate a relevant theory for mHealth program design. Method. A secondary review of research syntheses and meta-analyses published between 2005 and 2014 related to mHealth, using the AMSTAR (A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews) methodology for assessment of the quality of each review. High-quality articles from those reviews using a randomized controlled design and integrating social science theory in program design, implementation, or evaluation were reviewed. Results. There were 1,749 articles among the 170 reviews with a high AMSTAR score (≥30). Only 13 were published from 2005 to 2014, used a randomized controlled design and made explicit mention of theory in any aspect of their mHealth program. All 13 included theoretical perspectives focused on psychological and/or psychosocial theories and constructs. Conclusions. There is a very limited use of social science theory in mHealth despite demonstrated benefits in doing so. We propose an integrated theory of mHealth that incorporates classic theory, health communication theory, and social networking to guide development and evaluation of mHealth programs.