A mixed-methods evaluation of college student and provider perspectives on a smartphone application for help-seeking after violence

Abstract

Objective

To elicit feedback on the acceptability, usability, and dissemination options for the bMOREsafe smartphone application (app). Participants: Forty-nine students and six service-providers provided feedback on the bMOREsafe app between April 2015 and March 2016. Methods: Students responded to an anonymous online survey and providers participated in semi-structured interviews. Descriptive and thematic analyses were completed. Results: Students rated the app as useful, however less applicable to themselves and their peers. Students stated they would be most receptive to recommendations about the app from peers and social media. Qualitative data from service providers fell into three main categories: trauma-informed aspects; inclusivity vs. specificity; and within an app, language matters. Conclusions: Smartphone technology can provide confidential information and resources to help students make decisions related to sexual assault or intimate partner violence care. While students and providers identified apps as a useful strategy for sharing this information, dissemination challenges remain.

Keywords:

• Help-seeking
• mixed-methods
• sexual violence
• smartphone applications

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Jacquelyn Campbell and the Mercy Medical Center Forensic Nurse Examiner Program for their support and assistance with this work.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution and Mercy Medical Center Institutional Review Boards.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute. J.C.A. received funding from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [T32HD087162] and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [K23AA027288].