Task Summary

For Assessment 1, you will be required to evaluate one digital health tool/intervention/application. You will need to examine its applicability in a professional context within Australia, considering infrastructural, legal and ethical concerns.

Context

This assessment is set in the Australian context. A digital health tool, otherwise known as software as a service (SaaS) solution (or mobile app) will be provided for your evaluation. You are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the infrastructure required including cloud services, privacy and security, legal and ethical considerations in the Australian context. Relevant regulations, privacy laws and guiding principles, that are part of this subject resources, must be consulted/applied for this evaluation.

Assessment 1 prepares you as professionals, with a better understanding of the applicability, and expectations from digital health interventions, such that it informs their professional disciplines relating to Public Health.

Task Instructions

Step 1: Your Learning Facilitator will assign ONE digital health intervention / mobile health application for your Evaluation Report.

Step 2: You need to download the app into your mobile device and use it for at least a week to understand its functionality and features.

Step 3: Conduct a primary evaluation of the tool/intervention using the guiding questions and prepare an evaluation report based on the structure provided below.

Evaluation Report App Name:

Introduction (400 words)

-         What is the app all about?

-         What are the primary and secondary objectives of the app?

-         Who is the developer of the app?

-         How long has the app been active?

-         Who is using the app in the past 12 months based on available data (Internet search)

-         Synthesise the most common positive and negative feedback about the app based on the user reviews. (Sources may be Google reviews, Google Play store reviews and App store-based reviews, any other online sources available. The reviews should not be another author opinion as it is secondary evidence)

-         Analyse the qualitative feedback and provide your analysis.

Evaluative Discussion

Infrastructure (400 words)

-         Who is the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) / host for the app (e.g., AWS, Microsoft, Google)? What are the advantages of having this CSP?

-         Based on the Cloud Service Provider, is the app stable and secure? Why and why not?

-         What are the implications in terms of privacy and security?

-         What data are collected from the users? Are there data being collected but not relevant to the purpose or function of the app?

-         Where is the data stored? How is data protected while in transit and when at rest within the app? What are the privacy measures in place in the app and server?

-         Overall, what are the privacy risks / challenges that you identified while using the app?

Note: Apply the relevant module resources to answer these guiding questions. This is a primary evaluation based on your work, and secondary opinion sources cannot be used)

Legal/Regulatory (400 words)

-         How does the app relate to the Privacy Act of 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APP)? For this part, evaluate how the app’s Privacy Policy adheres to the requirements of the APP.

-         How does the app relate to the Therapeutics Goods Act (TGA)? For this part, walk through the TGA flowchart in the Module 3 Resources to determine whether the app is considered software-as-a-medical device (SAMD) or not. Justify your finding.

-         How does the app relate to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL)? For this question, examine the app’s Terms & Conditions and assess if it adheres to the requirements for the ACL.

-         How does the app relate to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)? Does the AHPRA law apply to the use of the app? Explain why.

-         From a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest), evaluate the compliance to these laws based on the information available. Justify your scores.

Ethical/Socio-Cultural Issues (400 words)

-         Is the app catering to the socio-cultural requirements in the Australian context? Is it relevant to indigenous communities, culturally and linguistically diverse communities (CALD), youth, children, ageing population and others? Support your arguments with examples and references to the app, based on your experience.

-         Comment on the app’s interfaces and functionalities, relating to the populations.

-         Has the solution been actively taken up by the proposed users? What may be the deterrents based on your experience?

Conclusion and Recommendation (400 words)

-         Summarise the gaps that you identified in previous sections only in brief.

-         Recommend: Provide your own actionable and practical recommendations for improvement to the app provider. This may include changes to the interface, language, security measures, or additional features, functionalities.(This must be your own summary without any references to other people opinion)

-         Global research: From a wider global research, summarise at least one comparative app that have similar objectives as the app that you have evaluated. Is this app currently being used in Australia? If not, can it be used in the Australian context? Which app do you think has better features, functionalities or interface?

-         Professional/Personal perspective: From your own perspective, would the solution help in your work or at a personal level? If yes, explain as to how you would be able to use the app for your professional and/or personal context (if applicable). If not, please explain why by highlighting deterrents.

Reference List

-         Ensure that primary sources are used (e.g., the app’s website, app store reviews, Privacy Policy)

-         Avoid secondary sources (e.g., research papers or blogs that describe or evaluate the app or opinion pieces)

Note: The report must not be written in question and answer format. Rather, the questions should be addressed within the main headings (BOLD) of the report in a coherent manner.

Referencing

It is essential that you use appropriate APA style for citing and referencing research or images used including website resources, Internet resources, subject module resources, images captured using screen capture, etc. You will need to list them in alphabetical order using the source name or author surname, as per the APA format.. In-text citations must also be in the correct APA style.

For more information on referencing, go to https://library.torrens.edu.au/academicskills/apa/tool

Submission Instructions

Submit your Evaluation Report via the Assessment 2 link in the main navigation menu in the DHI401 Digital Health and Informatics Blackboard portal. Your Learning Facilitator will provide feedback via the Grade Centre in the LMS portal. Feedback can be viewed in My Grades.

Academic Integrity Declaration:

I declare that, except where I have referenced, the work I am submitting for this assessment task is my own work. I have read and am aware of Torrens University Australia Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure viewable online at http://www.torrens.edu.au/policies-and-forms

I am aware that I need to keep a copy of all submitted material and their drafts, and I will do so accordingly.

Assessment Rubric