Smartphone Application-Based Rehabilitation Program for Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Insights From the Design, Development, and Validation

Background: Older adults facing chronic health challenges may experience significant advantages from smartphone technologies. This study aimed to design, develop, and validate a smartphone application to deliver rehabilitation programs to older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This study consisted of three phases: (1) Assessment of need, (2) Design and development of the smartphone application, and (3) Evaluation of the smartphone application by content validation. The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT-A/V) validated the smartphone application. This validation was performed through direct interaction between the validators and the system, relevant observations were identified, and suggestions were noted during and after the test. Results: The smartphone application consisted of six modules, with content delivered through photos, videos, text, and flyers. Eight experts and twenty-five older adults over 60 years and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus completed the validation. The smartphone application received a good median understandability score of over 90 from experts and over 80 by end users, and a median actionability score of 100 by experts and over 100 by end users on the PEMAT-A/V. Conclusion: This newly developed smartphone application has been validated and is now ready for evaluation to assess its effectiveness in improving the delivery of rehabilitation programs in older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.