Designing Instructional Materials for Older Adults to Successfully Onboard and Use mHealth Applications

Mobile applications are high-potential tools to aid in the self-management of health and behavioral change, especially for those with chronic health conditions. Though mHealth applications are easily accessible, there may be barriers to adoption, particularly for older adults disproportionally affected by chronic health conditions. We undertook a human factors approach to designing instructional materials to comprehensively guide older adults in utilizing features within MEDSReM, an mHealth application that supports self-management of hypertension. The instructional materials will support older adults in learning to use MEDSReM by reducing the cognitive burden when onboarding and using features available within the system. The systematic approach presented can serve as a model for designing a wide variety of mobile applications for older adult users.