Mobile health (mHealth) technology has been proposed to alleviate the lack of sufficient medical resources for personal healthcare. However, usage difficulties and compliance issues relating to this technology restrict the effect of mHealth system-supported self-management. In this study, an mHealth framework is introduced to overcome these drawbacks and improve the outcome of self-management. We implemented a set of ease of use principles in the mHealth design and employed the quantitative Fogg Behavior Model to enhance users' execution ability. The framework was realized in a prototype design for the mHealth system, which consists of medical apparatuses, mobile applications and a health management server. The system is able to monitor the physiological status in an unconstrained manner with simplified operations, while supervising the healthcare plan. The results suggest that the present framework design is accessible for ordinary users and effective in improving users' execution ability in self-management.
Keywords: Self-management; ease of use; execution ability; mobile health; persuasive technology.