gms | German Medical Science

Hintergrund: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) causes the highest proportion of the total illness costs in Germany (46.4 billion € in 2015) and lifestyle is known to contribute to the risk of cardiovascular disease. Prevention offers extensive and comprehensive benefits for individuals and society. Strengthening and upgrading prevention that is targeting groups that are exposed to a higher risk of disease (often marginalized and/or non-educational groups) is therefore of central importance for our constantly aging population.

Fragestellung: The aim is to process evidence-based prevention measures, to develop a design and interaction scheme that addresses high risk target groups, considers their personal situation, and encourages a behavioral change using multi-media content and gamification approaches.

Methoden: Evidence-based materials from a preceding project were adapted to the target group and further developed. The materials are enriched with multi-media content, is available in six languages and culturally adapted to be used by non-educational and/or foreign-language target groups. The content is divided into three modules: Nutrition, Physical Exercise and Smoking cessation. An interdisciplinary network of cooperations from fields of health literacy, media communication and sports sciences is involved. The user-acceptance of the smartphone-app will be evaluated.

Ergebnisse: A preview of information content and motivation videos are presented on the poster and more material will accessible through a QR code/link on the poster. The mobile-application is expected to be rolled out by the third quarter of 2022.

Diskussion: Reaching target groups that are exposed to a higher risk of disease requires the development of attractive, person-oriented and specific health offers in a multi-disciplinary process.

Take Home Message für die Praxis: The use of culturally adapted mobile-apps can be promising for overcoming cultural barriers and enhancing a healthier lifestyle for non-educational groups as well as non-native German speakers.