The Impact of Using mHealth Apps on Improving Public Health Satisfaction during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Digital Content Value Chain Perspective

Abstract

The use of mobile technology and equipment has been found to be successful in the governance of public health. In the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, mobile health (mhealth) apps are expected to play an important role in the governance of public health. This study establishes a structural equation model based on the digital content value chain framework, identifies the main values created by mhealth apps in the prevention and control of COVID-19, and surveys 500 citizens of China. The data were analyzed using an independent t-test and partial least squares structural equations (PLS-SEM). The results showed that people who use mhealth apps are more satisfied with public health governance than those who do not; the healthcare assurance value of mhealth apps and healthcare confidence positively influence the interaction between users and mhealth app functions, the interaction with information, and the interaction with doctors to improve users’ satisfaction with public health governance; and the parasocial relationships between doctors and users of mhealth apps positively affect the interactions between users and doctors to improve users’ satisfaction with public health governance. This study confirms the potential of mhealth apps toward improving public health governance during the COVID-19 pandemic from a new perspective and provides a new theoretical basis whereby mobile technology can contribute toward improving public health governance.

The Effect of Mobile Health (m-Health) Education Based on WANTER Application on Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) Regarding Anemia among Female Students in a Rural Area of Indonesia

“…Another study revealed that the value of student efficacy and performance in behavior prevention increased by 3 months after intervention [ 32 ]. This result, supported by the results of a study from Cao et al, showed that people who use the application m-Health feel more satisfied [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. The attitude of adolescents who are given intervention in the form of booklet after three months has the same effect as the WANTER method.…”

The Accessibility and the Digital Divide in the Apps during the COVID-19. Comment on Cao et al. The Impact of Using mHealth Apps on Improving Public Health Satisfaction during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Digital Content Value Chain Perspective. Healthcare 2022, 10, 479

“…Accessibility and the Digital Divide are two important and interrelated aspects that governments and designers must increasingly consider when it comes to the use of technologies and the accessibility of citizens for the purposes of monitoring and disseminating information. This is particularly true when we talk about healthcare where Apps and mHealth can give an important added value as you have fully illustrated in your study [1].…”

“…We are writing to you as the corresponding author of the interesting study “The Impact of Using mHealth Apps on Improving Public Health Satisfaction during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Digital Content Value Chain Perspective” [ 1 ].…”

“…This is particularly true when we talk about healthcare where Apps and mHealth can give an important added value as you have fully illustrated in your study [ 1 ].…”

Urban resilience under the COVID-19 pandemic: A quantitative assessment framework based on system dynamics

“…In the field of critical infrastructures, Forcellini (2022) took the occupancy of intensive care units (ICUs) as a reference parameter to assess the resilience and recovery capacity of health infrastructure systems in some European countries during the pandemic, Cao et al (2022) further discussed the application and potential of mobile technology and facilities in health services to prevent and control PHEs, which indicated the indispensable role of information and communication technology (ICT) in improving urban resilience during the pandemic. In fact, the pandemic has changed the landscape of critical infrastructures broadly despite the lack of physical damages.…”