Course 13: Designing and Evaluating Smartphone-based Adaptive Physical Activity Interventions

Mobile health technologies hold great promise for delivering personalized, adaptive physical activity interventions that respond to an individual’s needs in real time. These "just-in-time" adaptive interventions (JITAI) are designed to provide the right support at the right moment by leveraging dynamic information about a person’s behavior or environment. However, developing mobile health apps capable of delivering such adaptive interventions can be a challenge for researchers and health professionals who may lack software development expertise. Additionally, to evaluate JITAIs effectively, robust methodological and statistical tools are needed that can account for the complex, dynamic nature of these interventions. These methods enable researchers to assess real-time adaptations and intervention efficacy across diverse contexts and individual differences, providing a comprehensive understanding of JITAI effectiveness.
To address these challenges, our team has developed Pathverse, a no-code JITAI app development tool specifically tailored for health intervention research. This free tool is particularly well-suited for co-designing JITAI apps with participants and conducting feasibility and pilot studies. It allows researchers to develop JITAI apps using a graphical interface and enables the integration of and real-time response to data from commercial wearables (e.g., Fitbit, Apple Watch) as well as other survey inputs.
The aims of this course are to: (1) provide participants with practical, hands-on experience in designing JITAI mobile apps, and (2) discuss best practices for JITAI design and evaluation. Specifically, participants will gain methodological understanding to design JITAI studies that capture real-time adaptations and apply statistical models suited for analyzing these adaptive interventions.
The workshop is open to individuals at all levels, including students, trainees, early-career professionals, and mid-career professionals. It offers a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience and deepen participants' understanding of JITAIs, mobile health app development, and evaluation.

Presenter - Amanda Willms M.Sc  Student
University of Victoria

Presenter - Geri Ruissen PhD  Student
University of Alberta

Mobile health technologies hold great promise for delivering personalized, adaptive physical activity interventions that respond to an individual’s needs in real time. These "just-in-time" adaptive interventions (JITAI) are designed to provide the right support at the right moment by leveraging dynamic information about a person’s behavior or environment. However, developing mobile health apps capable of delivering such adaptive interventions can be a challenge for researchers and health professionals who may lack software development expertise. Additionally, to evaluate JITAIs effectively, robust methodological and statistical tools are needed that can account for the complex, dynamic nature of these interventions. These methods enable researchers to assess real-time adaptations and intervention efficacy across diverse contexts and individual differences, providing a comprehensive understanding of JITAI effectiveness.
To address these challenges, our team has developed Pathverse, a no-code JITAI app development tool specifically tailored for health intervention research. This free tool is particularly well-suited for co-designing JITAI apps with participants and conducting feasibility and pilot studies. It allows researchers to develop JITAI apps using a graphical interface and enables the integration of and real-time response to data from commercial wearables (e.g., Fitbit, Apple Watch) as well as other survey inputs.
The aims of this course are to: (1) provide participants with practical, hands-on experience in designing JITAI mobile apps, and (2) discuss best practices for JITAI design and evaluation. Specifically, participants will gain methodological understanding to design JITAI studies that capture real-time adaptations and apply statistical models suited for analyzing these adaptive interventions.
The workshop is open to individuals at all levels, including students, trainees, early-career professionals, and mid-career professionals. It offers a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience and deepen participants' understanding of JITAIs, mobile health app development, and evaluation.

Presenter - Amanda Willms, M.Sc,
University of Victoria

Presenter - Geri Ruissen, PhD,
University of Alberta