ArticleDigital health
What does it mean to be engaged with digital health interventions? A qualitative study into the experiences of engaged users and the views of professionals.
Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Use, Usability, and Experience Testing of a Digital Health Intervention to Support Chronic Kidney Disease Self-Management: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Engagement With a Relaxation-Based Mobile Health Intervention for Perioperative Anxiety: Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Mixed Methods Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Perspectives of Clinical Researchers on Engagement With Digital Mental Health Interventions: Qualitative Interview Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Engagement of Users in Digital Health Applications: Scoping Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Incentivizing Prevention: Community Based Organizations' Perceptions on Financial Incentives for Recruitment and Retention of Participants in Keep it Up! (KIU!), an eHealth HIV Prevention Intervention.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Reducing the 'Silence Between Sessions': A Qualitative Study on Youth and Professionals' Perspectives on Digital Tools for Suicide Prevention.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Multilevel associations between skills use, engagement, and treatment outcome in self-guided internet-delivered dialectical behavior therapy for substance use disorders.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Digital Transformation in Healthcare and Nephrology.Cureus · 2026Review
- Mapping the Process of Engagement With Digital Health Interventions: A Cross-Case Synthesis.Mayo Clinic proceedings. Innovations, quality & outcomes · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Objective: Digital health interventions (DHIs) hold promise for influencing health behaviors positively, but their widespread implementation and effectiveness remain limited. Engagement is crucial for DHI effectiveness, yet its conceptualization is debated. This qualitative study explores engagement from user and professional perspectives. Methods: Twenty self-proclaimed engaged health app users participated in semistructured interviews, and 13 professionals working with DHIs completed an online survey. Results: Interviews with health app users revealed three key components of their sense of engagement: behavioral, cognitive, and affective. Behavioral engagement includes routine, effortless, and dynamic usage; emphasizing the importance of the quality of fit between user and technology over frequency of use. Cognitive engagement encompasses the technology's utility as a tool for supporting behavior change, providing new insights, and enhancing motivation. Affective engagement involves enjoying progress, deriving pleasure from using the technology, and identifying with the technology. Notably, participants exhibited varying emphasis on these components. Professionals, in a parallel inquiry, agreed on the relevance of behavior, cognition, and affect in defining engagement. In their understanding, behavioral engagement is often associated with adherence and frequency of use, while cognitive engagement emphasizes understanding, motivation, and achieving cognitive outcomes. Affective engagement, although diverse, is recognized as a critical dimension. In addition, it was noticeable that users and professionals perceived microengagement (with the DHI) and macroengagement (with the target behavior) as interconnected. Conclusion: To conclude, this study contributes a nuanced understanding of the multifaceted nature of engagement, informing future measurement of the concept, DHI design, and implementation strategies for improved user experiences and outcomes.
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