The Life Goals (LG) app is a mobile adaptation of a self-management program for individuals with bipolar disorder (BD), designed to align symptom coping strategies with personal goals. In a qualitative study involving 18 participants who used the app for six months, users generally reported that the Mood Monitoring and educational modules were beneficial, helping them track emotional patterns and reflect on their condition. However, some found components too basic or impersonal—particularly those who had lived with BD for years—and called for more tailored, interactive, and engaging content. Feedback on the proposed provider dashboard was mixed; while some saw value in sharing their app data with clinicians to improve care, others had concerns about privacy and provider responsiveness.

The study’s findings highlight the importance of personalization, customization, and interactivity in digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) for sustained engagement. Participants expressed a desire for features like behavior tracking, integrated health data, and peer interaction, suggesting these could improve long-term app use and mental health outcomes. The feedback also emphasized the need to design tools that adapt over time and accommodate users with varying levels of BD experience. While limited by a small, homogenous sample and retrospective interviews, this work informs the development of more responsive, user-centered DMHIs and supports future enhancements to the LG app, including the provider dashboard and just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs).

Reference: Rusch A, Carley I, Badola P, et al. Digital mental health interventions for chronic serious mental illness: Findings from a qualitative study on usability and scale-up of the Life Goals app for bipolar disorder. Front Digit Health. 2022 Nov 21;4:1033618. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2022.1033618. PMID: 36479190; PMCID: PMC9719982.