Toward a Better Understanding of the Intention to Use mHealth Apps: Exploratory Study.

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of mobile health (mHealth) apps are becoming available for download and use on mobile devices. Even with the increase in availability and use of mHealth apps, there has still not been a lot of research into understanding the intention to use this kind of apps. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate a technology acceptance model (TAM) that has been specially designed for primary health care applications. METHODS: The proposed model is an extension of the TAM, and was empirically tested using data obtained from a survey of mHealth app users (n=310). The research analyzed 2 additional external factors: promotion of health and health benefits. Data were analyzed with a PLS-SEM software and confirmed that gender moderates the adoption of mHealth apps in Spain. The explanatory capacity (R2 for behavioral intention to use) of the proposed model was 76.4%. Likewise, the relationships of the external constructs of the extended TAM were found to be significant. RESULTS: The results show the importance of healthy habits developed by using mHealth apps. In addition, communication campaigns for these apps should be aimed at transferring the usefulness of eHealth as an agent for transforming attitudes; additionally, as more health benefits are obtained, ease of use becomes greater. Perceived usefulness (PU; ß=.415, t0.001;4999=3.442, P=.001), attitude toward using (ß=.301, t0.01;499=2.299, P=.02), and promotion of health (ß=.210, t0.05;499=2.108, P=.03) were found to have a statistically significant impact on behavior intention to use eHealth apps (R2=76.4%). Perceived ease of use (PEOU; ß=.179, t0.01;499=2.623, P=.009) and PU (ß=.755, t0.001;499=12.888, P<.001) were found to have a statistically significant impact on attitude toward using (R2>=78.2%). Furthermore, PEOU (ß=.203, t0.01;499=2.810, P=.005), health benefits (ß=.448, t0.001;499=4.010, P<.001), and promotion of health (ß=.281, t0.01;499=2.393, P=.01) exerted a significant impact on PU (R2=72.7%). Finally, health benefits (ß=.640, t0.001;499=14.948, P<.001) had a statistically significant impact on PEOU (R2=40.9%), while promotion of health (ß=.865, t0.001;499=29.943, P<.001) significantly influenced health benefits (R2=74.7%). CONCLUSIONS: mHealth apps could be used to predict the behavior of patients in the face of recommendations to prevent pandemics, such as COVID-19 or SARS, and to track users' symptoms while they stay at home. Gender is a determining factor that influences the intention to use mHealth apps, so perhaps different interfaces and utilities could be designed according to gender.

Virtual Teams in Times of Pandemic: Factors That Influence Performance.

In the digital age, the global software development sector has been a forerunner in implementing new ways and configurations for remote teamwork using information and communication technologies on a widespread basis. Crises and technological advances have influenced each other to bring about changes in the ways of working. In the 70's of the last century, in the middle of the so-called oil crisis, the concept of teleworking was defined using remote computer equipment to access office equipment and thus avoid moving around using traditional vehicles. Then from the 90s, with the advent of communications and the widespread use of the Internet, the first virtual work teams were implemented in software development companies that already had some of the important characteristics needed to work in this way, such as, cultural diversity, characterized tasks, geographical distribution of members, communication, interdependence of tasks, leadership, cohesion, empowerment, confidence, virtuality. This manuscript groups the main factors into different models proposed by the literature and also analyzes the results of a study conducted in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis on 317 software development teams that had to work in virtual teams (VT). The results of the quantitative methodology with structural equation modeling based on variance using the partial least squares route method are analyzed. The results of the research focus on some determinants that can directly affect the performance of the virtual team. A first determinant is communication in relation to the tasks. The second is trust in relation to leadership, empowerment and cohesion. The results of virtual teams provide information that can serve as a basis for future research lines for the implementation of virtual work strategies in post-pandemic work.