Patient’s Scenario

John is 32 years old and has irregular sleep patterns that are related to insomnia. He has difficulty staying asleep and falling asleep. This has affected his productivity at work and lowered his social interactions with his workmates and family. John experienced Insomnia after the subsequent collapse of his business and retrenchment at work. Despite having found alternative sources of income, the irregular sleeping patterns still affected John’s ability to function properly during normal working hours. John has been seeking medication to ease his condition by reducing his stress levels and boosting his moods. However, drugs have not successfully eased John’s condition. John is still motivated about learning his condition and finding a better solution for his Insomnia. Thus, creating a simple plan that will teach him about his health and how he can improve would be effective. The learning plan will include probable origins, diagnosis, as well as prognosis of insomnia in adults.

Teaching Measures to Improve Patient Outcomes

• Information About the mHealth Application:

For John’s case, the most suitable mHealth app would be Sleepio app. The app can be downloaded from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sleepio-the-sleep-improvement-app/id910208298. Sleepio is an online program that relies on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The Sleepio app is considered a companion app that relies on an evidence-based program that offers the Sleepio course which helps resolve insomnia and improve sleeping habits (BigHealthLimited, 2018). The program is aimed at helping users to sleep more deeply as well as fall asleep faster with fewer interruptions during their sleeping cycles. Whether one is struggling with sleeping or sleeping impacts their everyday life from appetite, mood to energy, Sleepio teaches one the techniques of tackling their sleeping patterns by resetting their natural sleeping patterns without relying on drugs.

• Safety Guidelines for mHealth Application:

Sleepio has been clinically proven to help one improve their sleeping patterns such as falling asleep faster, staying asleep throughout the night and ensuring one feels better during the day (Anthes, 2016). However, because the app involves making changes in the daily routine and lifestyle, there is a need to consult a doctor before beginning the program. It is important to seek guideline from the doctor before starting the course if one has pre-existing medication or medical condition. Relatively, the information that is offered on the course may not universally apply to all individuals with insomnia thus it would be important to first seek guidance from a physician. It is also important to ensure that there are no contradictions between the physician’s advice and website instructions. In case of any, there is a need to seek advice from a physician. Furthermore, Sleepio like any other mHealth apps offers information about the patient and thus there is a need to consult with a physician on the effectiveness of the app and whether they protect personal data.

• Interpreting and acting on the information in the mHealth application

The program has been structured on a series of the weekly interactive session that takes about 20 minutes each. The app also calculates sleep efficiency which allows the user to evaluate their sleeping habits as well as understand if they need improvement. The app offers a sleep diary that enables the user to track their progress and while the program is used to tailor advice to the patients (Anthes, 2016). The program has a virtual sleep expert who takes part in addressing worries and thoughts about one’s schedule, sleep, and lifestyle. Users fill the diary manually or upload the data automatically. The virtual expert then learns about one’s challenges and desire to personalize the program through the virtual expert uses to offer relevant assistance whenever needed.

Determining and evaluating the success of the patient’s use of the mHealth app.

• Evaluation 1: Reduction in the time taken to fall asleep

The main aim of this app is to build an association between getting to bed and falling asleep to solve problems associated with the amount of time taken in bed before falling asleep. (Anthes, 2016). Therefore, Sleepio will calculate the average amount of time taken before one falls asleep. The intervention of the app will be evaluated through a reduction in the time taken to fall asleep. Thus, the changes in such sleeping pattern will be essential in evaluating the success of the app. This will be useful in examining whether its application was beneficial to the patient.

• Evaluation 2: Reduction in time spent awake during the night

Reduction in the time spent awake during the night will indicate the success of the app. Changes in such sleeping habits will indicate the effectiveness of the app to the user. The app will calculate the average number of hours spent during the night to show an individual’s sleep efficiency. Increased time spent in bed will indicate how the app is successful as a sleep improvement program.

• Evaluation 3: Feeling better and productive during the day

Behavioral changes such as better moods and reduced stress levels will be used to determine the success of Sleepio to the patient. Thus, the overall wellbeing of the patient will be used to assess the importance of the app to the user. The patient’s report on increased productivity and improvements in their lifestyle changes will be a good indicator of the efficiency of the app.

References

Anthes, E. (2016). Mental health: there’s an app for that. Nature News, 532(7597), 20.

BigHealthLimited (2018). Sleepio (1.8.10) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sleepio-the-sleep-improvement-app/id910208298