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Terms and conditions apply : critical issues for readability and jargon in mental health depression apps
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Jilka, Sagar, Simblett, Sara, Odoi, Clarissa M., van Bilsen, Janet, Wieczorek, Ania, Erturk, Sinan, Wilson, Emma, Mutepua, Magano and Wykes, Til (2021) Terms and conditions apply : critical issues for readability and jargon in mental health depression apps. Internet Interventions, 25 . 100433. doi:10.1016/j.invent.2021.100433 ISSN 2214-7829.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2021.100433
Abstract
Background
Mental health services are turning to technology to ease the resource burden, but privacy policies are hard to understand potentially compromising consent for people with mental health problems. The FDA recommends a reading grade of 8.
Objective
To investigate and improve the accessibility and acceptability of mental health depression app privacy policies.
Methods
A mixed methods study using quantitative and qualitative data to improve the accessibility of app privacy policies. Service users completed assessments and focus groups to provide information on ways to improve privacy policy accessibility, including identifying and rewording jargon. This was supplemented by comparisons of mental health depression apps with social media, music and finance apps using readability analyses and examining whether GDPR affected accessibility.
Results
Service users provided a detailed framework for increasing accessibility that emphasised having critical information for consent. Quantitatively, most app privacy policies were too long and complicated for ensuring informed consent (mental health apps mean reading grade = 13.1 (SD = 2.44)). Their reading grades were no different to those for other services. Only 3 mental health apps had a grade 8 or less and 99% contained service user identified jargon. Mental health app privacy policies produced for GDPR weren't more readable and were longer.
Conclusions
Apps specifically aimed at people with mental health difficulties are not accessible and even those that fulfilled the FDA's recommendation for reading grade contained jargon words. Developers and designers can increase accessibility by following a few rules and should, before launching, check whether the privacy policy can be understood.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | |||||||||
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| Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
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| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Mental health , Mental health -- Computer network resources, Mental health -- Programmed instruction , Medical technology , Medical technology -- Safety measures, Depression, Mental , Depression, Mental -- Programmed instruction , Mental health -- Terminology, Depression, Mental -- Terminology | |||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Internet Interventions | |||||||||
| Publisher: | Elsevier | |||||||||
| ISSN: | 2214-7829 | |||||||||
| Official Date: | September 2021 | |||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 25 | |||||||||
| Article Number: | 100433 | |||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.invent.2021.100433 | |||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | |||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | |||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | |||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 4 March 2022 | |||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 4 March 2022 | |||||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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