Abstract
ABSTRACT Mental disorders are a critical public health challenge since they profoundly affected people lifestyle. Mental healthcare treatments aim to promote a higher quality of life of the patients. These procedures include interventionsfor prolonged mental illness which can be supported by telemedicine technologies. This paper presents acomprehensive analysis of mobile applications selected to address the most critical needs of people with mentalproblems. Needs include areas of the patient’s life, such as basic activities, behavioral changes, and daily life tasks.This work has two main objectives; (1) identify critical needs for patients with mental disorders and (2) identify andanalyze apps that can meet the identified critical needs. A Delphi methodology survey was carried with a group ofthirteen volunteers, including nurses, assistants, and psychiatrists who are working in Zamora and Valladolid, Spain.This survey has recommended different needs for patients with mental disorders and address objective 1. GooglePlay and Apple Store have been assessed to select the most relevant mobile applications that were recommended inthe Delphi study to address the essential needs of these patients according to objective 2. The results of the Delphisurvey show 24 different needs for patients with mental disorders. This study has analyzed 62 mobile applicationswhich address the essential needs recommended in the Delphi study. The selected mobile applications represent 31applications with feedback (50%); 15 informative applications (24%), and 16 independent applications (26%). Onthe one hand, applications with feedback request can address 13 recommended needs (54%). On the other hand,informative applications can address 7 needs (29%). Finally, the independent applications are only able to respond to4 of the 24 recommend needs (17%). Mobile health applications present effective technologies to support the needsof patients with mental disorders. However, this study suggests a critical limitation of mobile applications for mentalhealth since the majority of the applications require user activity. Therefore, future research initiatives on the designand development of mobile apps for people who have mental disorders should focus on independent applications.
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