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A Review of the Processes By Which School Psychologists and Counsellors Can Use Taxonomies to Evaluate Health-Related Apps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2018

Marko Ostojic ,
Jasmine Chung ,
Michael DiMattia ,
Brett Furlonger ,
Margherita Busacca  and
Philip Chittleborough
Marko Ostojic
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, Counselling and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Jasmine Chung
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, Counselling and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Michael DiMattia
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, Counselling and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Brett Furlonger*
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, Counselling and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Margherita Busacca
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, Counselling and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Philip Chittleborough
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, Counselling and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Dr Brett Furlonger, Faculty of Education, Monash University, 57 Scenic Boulevard, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

School students are increasingly using apps for health-related purposes, either on their own or when recommended by psychologists or counsellors, as apps offer a way to assist students to change their behaviour. However, there is a growing need for psychologists and counsellors to be able to evaluate the quality and usefulness of such apps to effect behaviour change. This study was therefore undertaken to identify methods by which school psychologists and counsellors could evaluate health-related apps for clinical use or research purposes. After examining 15 studies of apps that met the inclusion criteria, it was clear that researchers used a number of taxonomies to evaluate the apps. There were seven taxonomies identified, of which five were generalisable to all health conditions, with the behaviour change technique (BCT) taxonomy being the most comprehensive, containing 13 key behaviour strategies. Despite the utility of the taxonomies to identify the amount of behaviour change content within the apps, it was difficult to determine how the behaviour change strategies were measured, thus reducing the ability to predict app effectiveness. Approaches to improving methods by which apps can be developed and evaluated are proposed.

Keywords

content-analysisappsevaluationcounsellingschoolstudents
Type
Review Article
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , December 2018 , pp. 212 - 233
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

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