PurposeThe study aim was to develop a mobile application (app) supported by user preferences to optimise self-management of arm and shoulder exercises for upper-limb dysfunction (ULD) after breast cancer treatment.MethodsFocus groups with breast cancer patients were held to identify user needs and requirements. Behaviour change techniques were explored by researchers and discussed during the focus groups. Concepts for content were identified by thematic analysis. A rapid review was conducted to inform the exercise programme. Preliminary testing was carried out to obtain user feedback from breast cancer patients who used the app for 8 weeks post surgery.ResultsBreast cancer patients’ experiences with ULD and exercise advice and routines varied widely. They identified and prioritised several app features: tailored information, video demonstrations of the exercises, push notifications, and tracking and progress features. An evidence-based programme was developed with a physiotherapist with progressive exercises for passive and active mobilisation, stretching and strengthening. The exercise demonstration videos were filmed with a breast cancer patient. Early user testing demonstrated ease of use, and clear and motivating app content.ConclusionsbWell, a novel app for arm and shoulder exercises, was developed by breast cancer patients, health care professionals and academics. Further research is warranted to confirm its clinical effectiveness.Implications for cancer survivorsMobile health has great potential to provide patients with information specific to their needs. bWell is a promising way to support breast cancer patients with exercise routines after treatment and may improve future self-management of clinical care.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11764-017-0630-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objective: This paper illustrates how qualitative methods can be used in the development and evaluation of behavior change interventions. Although many campaigns advise young people to drink responsibly, few clarify how to convert this general advice into specific behavioral strategies. Resilience-based approaches argue that treating young non-drinkers and moderate drinkers as "experts" in responsible alcohol use may facilitate co-creation of acceptable interventions that focus on how to change behavior. Methods: Four distinct phases of intervention development were linked to past research and future developments.Results: First, analysis of correlates of alcohol use using data from a survey of 1412 people aged 16-21 indicated that alcohol harm-reduction interventions should help young people to develop skills and strategies to resist alcohol. Second, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of 25 interviews with people purposively-selected from among the survey sample identified general strategies and specific tactics used by young people to manage opportunities to drink. Third, insights from the first two phases and past qualitative research guided development of video resources to be use in school-based alcohol education to illustrate strategies and tactics for moderate-or non-use of alcohol. Fourth, 18 focus groups with students and teachers were used to evaluate the video: structured Thematic Analysis indicated that after revision the video would be a valuable addition to school-based alcohol education. Conclusions: Findings from the four phases highlight the value of using different qualitative and quantitative methods as part of a program of work designed to inform the development, refinement, and evaluation of health psychology interventions.

Sensory Substitution Devices (SSDs) convert visual information into another sensory channel (e.g. sound) to improve the everyday functioning of blind and visually impaired persons (BVIP). However, the range of possible functions and options for translating vision into sound is largely open-ended. To provide constraints on the design of this technology, we interviewed ten BVIPs who were briefly trained in the use of three novel devices that, collectively, showcase a large range of design permutations. The SSDs include the 'Depth-vOICe,' 'Synaestheatre' and 'Creole' that offer high spatial, temporal, and colour resolutions respectively via a variety of sound outputs (electronic tones, instruments, vocals). The participants identified a range of practical concerns in relation to the devices (e.g. curb detection, recognition, mental effort) but also highlighted experiential aspects. This included both curiosity about the visual world (e.g. understanding shades of colour, the shape of cars, seeing the night sky) and the desire for the substituting sound to be responsive to movement of the device and aesthetically engaging.

Accuracy of memory performance per se is an imperfect reflection of the cognitive activity (awareness states) that underlies performance in memory tasks. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of varied visual fidelity on the transfer of training to the real-world after exposure to immersive simulations representing a real-world scene. A between groups experiment was therefore carried out to explore the effect of rendering quality on measurements of location-based recognition memory for objects and measurements of any associated states of awareness. The immersive simulation consisted of one room that was either rendered flat-shaded or using radiosity rendering. The simulation was displayed on a stereo head-tracked Head Mounted Display. After the immersive simulation, participants completed a recognition memory task in a real-world scene by physically arranging objects (in their physical form) in a real world room In addition to the recognition memory task, participants also reported one of four states of awareness following object recognition. Participants were given several options of awareness states that reflected the level of visual mental imagery involved during retrieval, the familiarity of the recollection and also included guesses. The scene also incorporated objects that 'fitted' into the specific context of the real-world scene (an academic's office), referred to as consistent objects, and objects which were not related to the specific context of the real-world scene,referred to as inconsistent objects. A follow-up study was also conducted a week after the initial test. Interestingly, results revealed a higher proportion of correct object recognition that was associated with an awareness state based on mental imagery when the immersive simulation was flat-rendered rather than radiosity rendered This supports similar results from previous studies and extends them to the transfer of training. Memory psychology indicates that awareness states based on visual imagery require stronger attentional processing in the first instance than those based on familiarity. A tentative claim would therefore be that those immersive environments that are distinctive because of their variation from 'real', such as flat-shaded environments, recruit stronger attentional resources. This additional attentional processing may bring about a change in participants' subjective experiences of 'remembering' when they later transfer the training from that environment into a real-world situation.

The study aimed to validate appetite ratings made on a new electronic device, the Apple iPad Mini, against an existing but now obsolete electronic device (Hewlett Packard iPAQ). Healthy volunteers (9 men and 9 women) rated their appetite before and 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after consuming both a low energy (LE: 77 kcal) and high energy (HE: 274 kcal) beverage at breakfast on 2 non-consecutive days in counter-balanced order. Rated hunger, desire to eat and how much participants could consume was significantly lower after HE than LE on both devices, although there was better overall differentiation between HE and LE for ratings on iPad. Rated satiation and fullness, and a composite measure combining all five ratings, was significantly higher after HE than LE on both devices. There was also evidence that differences between conditions were more significant when analysed at each time point than using an overall area under the curve (AUC) measure. Overall, these data confirm that appetite ratings made using iPad are at least as sensitive as those on iPAQ, and offer a new platform for researchers to collect appetite data.