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Hindi Rapid Communication, J Addict Behav Ther Rehabil Vol: 0 Issue: 1
The First mHealth App for Managing Cannabis Use: Gauging its Potential Helpfulness
| Melissa M Norberg1*, Sally E Rooke1, Lucy Albertella1, Jan Copeland1, David J Kavanagh2 and Annie Y S Lau3 |
| 1University of New South Wales, National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, PO Box 684, Randwick NSW 2031, Australia |
| 2Queensland University of Technology, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, 60 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia |
| 3University of New South Wales, Centre for Health Informatics, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Level 1 AGSM Building (G27), Sydney NSW 2052, Australia |
| Corresponding author : Melissa M. Norberg University of New South Wales, National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, PO Box 684, Randwick NSW 2031, Australia E-mail: m.norberg@unsw.edu.au |
| Received: March 11, 2013 Accepted: May 03, 2013 Published: May 06, 2013 |
| Citation: Norberg MM, Rooke SE, Albertella L, Copeland J, Kavanagh DJ, et al. (2013) The First mHealth App for Managing Cannabis Use: Gauging its Potential Helpfulness. J Addict Behav Ther Rehabil 3:1. doi:10.4172/2324-9005.1000117 |
Abstract
The First mHealth App for Managing Cannabis Use: Gauging its Potential Helpfulness
Cannabis use disorder is both common and costly. The impact of standard services for treating cannabis use and related problems has been inhibited by supply, accessibility, and perceived stigma. Thus, private, readily accessible methods of delivering evidencebased treatment on a large scale and at low cost are urgently needed. Accordingly, we developed the first mHealth smartphone app for managing cannabis use (Assess, Plan, Track, Tips; APTT). This study examines 10 cannabis users’ (50% men, aged 17-38) reactions to APTT after participating in a 2-hour in-house testing session. Eligibility criteria required participants to be interested in evaluating, reducing, or ceasing their cannabis use. Participants were satisfied with APTT overall, but rated its ease of use slightly higher than its helpfulness. Specifically, participants gave higher ratings of its goal monitoring and tracking of cannabis use than of its ability to increase insight and provide motivation or strategies to address cannabis use. Qualitative responses suggested that the helpfulness of APTT may be increased by providing more information about harms from using cannabis and benefits of quitting, clarifying how strategies for use reduction might be applied to different situations such as withdrawal, and incorporating professional assistance. These results will assist in determining what changes need to be made to APTT in order to ensure that it is evidence-based and user preferred.
