ArticleDigital health
Making it transparent: A worked example of articulating programme theory for a digital health application using Intervention Mapping.
Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Feasibility of the Aktivplan Digital Health Intervention for Supporting Regular Physical Activity Following Phase II Rehabilitation: Randomized Controlled Pilot Feasibility Study (ACTIVE-CaRe Pilot).JMIR formative research · 2026Trial
- Feasibility of the aktivplan Digital Health Intervention for Regular Physical Activity Following Phase II Rehabilitation: Protocol for a Mixed Method Randomized Controlled Pilot Study (ACTIVE-CaRe Pilot).JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Key questions to ask before implementing a Digital Mental Health Service (DMHS): A primer for policy makers.Internet interventions · 2025Review
- Two-Arm Crossover Randomized Controlled Trial Versus Meta-Analysis of N-of-1 Studies: Comparison of Statistical Efficiency in Determining an Intervention Effect.Biometrical journal. Biometrische Zeitschrift · 2025Article
- Physical activity interventions for the cardiac population: A generic logic model based on intervention mapping.PloS one · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
Objective: Digital health interventions for behaviour change are usually complex interventions, and intervention developers should 'articulate programme theory', that is, they should offer detailed descriptions of individual intervention components and their proposed mechanisms of action. However, such detailed descriptions often remain lacking. The objective of this work was to provide a conceptual case study with an applied example of 'articulating programme theory' for a newly developed digital health intervention. Methods: Intervention Mapping methodology was applied to arrive at a detailed description of programme theory for a newly developed digital health intervention that aims to support cardiac rehabilitation patients in establishing heart-healthy physical activity habits. Based on a Predisposing, Reinforcing, and Enabling Constructs in Educational Diagnosis and Evaluation (PRECEDE) logic model of the problem, a logic model of change was developed. The proposed mechanisms of action were visualised in an acyclic behaviour change diagram. Results: Programme theory for this digital health intervention includes 4 sub-behaviours of the main target behaviour (i.e. habitual heart-healthy physical activity), 8 personal determinants and 12 change objectives (i.e. changes needed at the determinant level to achieve the sub-behaviours). These are linked to 12 distinct features of the digital health intervention and 12 underlying behaviour change methods. Conclusions: This case study offers a worked example of articulating programme theory for a digital health intervention using Intervention Mapping. Intervention developers and researchers may draw on this example to replicate the method, or to reflect on most suitable approaches for their own behaviour change interventions.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.