Dissemination and implementation of interactive health communication applications

Introduction: In eHealth as with almost all areas of health and health care, there is a huge gap between the efficacy research database and what is disseminated and implemented in practice. In this presentation we will review the current status of the interactive health communication application(IHCA) field for health promotion and disease management in terms of dissemination and implementation (D&I) and based on this summary, we make recommendations for future directions. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review to identify D&I studies of IHCA in health promotion and disease management and described these studies from a D & I perspective. Electronic databases were searched to identify English-language articles published between 1980-July 2010. External validity dimensions of reach and representativeness, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance and other D&I relevant characteristics were abstracted from included studies and summarized. Results: Thirty-three studies were included in the analysis. The majority of the studies focused on healthy eating and physical activity, was community-based, and used web-based or computer-tailored web modalities. While the majority of the studies reported on some aspects of external validity, these reports were often partial and studies used diverse measures. The most frequently used study design was randomized controlled trial. Very few studies reported on health disparities, fidelity and adaptation, participatory approach, or used innovative D&I strategies. Discussion: Our review suggest that there is an acute need for more D&I studies of IHCA, for broader and standardized reporting on external validity dimensions and other D&I characteristics, outcomes and factors related to outcomes.