Towards an Ontology-driven Framework to Enable Development of Personalized mHealth Solutions for Cancer Survivors’ Engagement in Healthy Living

Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) cancer survivors manage an array of health-related issues. Survivorship Care Plans (SCPs) have the potential to empower these young survivors by providing information regarding treatment summary, late-effects of cancer therapies, healthy lifestyle guidance, coping with work-life-health balance, and follow-up care. However, current mHealth infrastructure used to deliver SCPs has been limited in terms of flexibility, engagement, and reusability. The objective of this study is to develop an ontology-driven survivor engagement framework to facilitate rapid development of mobile apps that are targeted, extensible, and engaging. The major components include ontology models, patient engagement features, and behavioral intervention technologies. We apply the proposed framework to characterize individual building blocks (“survivor digilegos”), which form the basis for mHealth tools that address user needs across the cancer care continuum. Results indicate that the framework (a) allows identification of AYA survivorship components, (b) facilitates infusion of engagement elements, and (c) integrates behavior change constructs into the design architecture of survivorship applications. Implications for design of patient-engaging chronic disease management solutions are discussed.