After months of winter, summer is a time when many of us take action to feel healthier and more energetic. But a gym can be too intimidating and expensive. Step forward: the inspirational charity Fitmums, that assigns a mentor, who, after a couple of coffee meet-ups, helps people to start their journey to fitness in a wide range of community fitness and running sessions. It’s partnered with ORCHA to help its members access a wide range of safe and effective health apps to further embed health into their everyday lives. See its founder, Sam Barlow, explain why, and the results being seen.

Explore Fitmums’ ORCHA microsite here.

Measuring the impact of digital health apps is one of the biggest challenges facing their adoption by individual patients and clinicians and the NHS more broadly.

What ‘good’ App use looks like varies hugely depending on the profile of the target user, the health condition being supported and what is expected from the app. Download rates and star ratings are open to click-farming and user reviews have no correlation with quality. This means that, today, there is no meaningful measure of App usability and User Experience (UX).

ORCHA is delighted to have recently been awarded a grant by Innovate UK, as part of UK Research. The grant will enable ORCHA to work with app developers and health bodies to develop a new, effective industry standard for measuring User Experience, which works for health bodies and app developers alike.

To help shape standards, we are partnering with The Hartree Centre, part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and together are inviting app developers to take part in the study.

By participating, app developers will work alongside ORCHA and key NHS leaders to help shape future standards. Involvement will also arm developers with recognised UX measures ahead of wider industry roll-out. As part of the study, we will be looking at tools, techniques and measures that incorporate a wide set of factors, including: user considerations, usage pattern monitoring, current UX reporting, what ‘good’ looks like in your field, and privacy considerations.

For organisations that are keen to participate in the programme, we will be running a webinar on the 21st August at 15:00 BST, which you can sign up for here. The webinar will provide more information about our UX Project, as well as our new and upcoming service, ORCHA Connect.

We also have a full project description and data specification available to those interested, so please email UXProject@orcha.co.uk if you would like to view these documents.

Please direct any questions or queries to UXProject@orcha.co.uk and we will be more than happy to assist.

According to Diabetes UK, 4.7 million people in the UK have diabetes, a number which has more than doubled in the last 20 years. About 90% of people with diabetes have Type 2, about 8% of people with diabetes have Type 1, and about 2% of people have rarer types of diabetes. Considering that the NHS spends at least £10 billion a year on diabetes, making up 10% of its entire budget, it is becoming increasingly important that patients have access to additional forms of diabetes management care that don’t rely solely on the NHS.

As well as reducing the strain on the NHS, more resources are needed so that people can learn to self-manage their diabetes. On average, diabetes sufferers spend around 3 hours with a healthcare professional every year, meaning that, for the remaining 8,757 hours, they must manage their diabetes themselves. It is here that diabetes apps find their place as diabetes management tools.

But what are the best diabetes apps?

With over 300,000 health apps on the market, many of these aimed at people with diabetes, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to know which ones are trustworthy and effective. As the trusted source for health app advice, ORCHA has reviewed 60 diabetes apps so that users and health professionals can easily find the best diabetes app for their or their patient’s health needs.

ORCHA’s App Library cuts through the noise by showing which apps, out of the thousands available, are safe to use. Scored on Clinical Assurance, Data Privacy and User Experience, ORCHA has reviewed diabetes tracker/log apps, diabetes management apps, gestational diabetes apps, and diabetes apps that go alongside medical devices.

ORCHA’s Top 5 Diabetes Apps

Diabetes apps can aid condition-management, give patients an informed understanding of diabetes, and, thus, provide additional support to professional medical advice and treatment. Below, we look at 5 of the top apps for diabetes management, based on our ORCHA Review:

• RetinaRisk – The Risk Diabetic Retinopathy Calculator (DRC) is designed for people with diabetes, and calculates patients’ percentage risk of developing sight-threatening retinopathy over time. These risk estimates are based on each individual’s clinical data. With an ORCHA Score of 88% on both iOS and Android, RetinaRisk is the highest scoring app designed specifically for individuals with diabetes.
• mySugr – The mySugr App is a free diabetes logbook, allowing users to keep their diabetes data under control. As a diabetes journal app, it includes a blood sugar tracker, carb logger, bolus calculator (EU only) and an estimated HbA1c for each individual. The app achieved an ORCHA Score of 87% on Android and 85% on iOS.
• Dario Diabetes Management – Dario Diabetes Management is a diabetes monitor app that allows people with diabetes to keep a record of their diabetes history, from a logbook and timeline of blood glucose measurements, to the ability to share results and statistics with chosen family members or healthcare team. Users can also enable Emergency Hypo Alerts with GPS Locator, which is a useful safety feature. The app can connect to Dario’s Blood Glucose Monitoring System, a smart pocket-sized device that automatically records blood glucose measurements and provides analysis. Dario Diabetes Management achieved an ORCHA Score of 84% on iOS and 80% on Android.
• GDm-Health – GDm-Health is gestational diabetes app for women with or at risk of gestational diabetes, as well as those who are pregnant with pre-existing diabetes. Users can upload and track blood glucose readings. These readings can be viewed as a list, in diary-view, in a graph, and can be filtered to show trends. Users can also provide additional notes to their care team, and receive care guidance from their care professional direct to the app. The app’s ORCHA Score for iOS is 83%.
• Dip.io – To be used with the designated Dip.io kit, Dip.io turns your smartphone into a urine dipstick analyser. The Dip.io app and kit can aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of metabolic or systemic diseases, and can thus be used as a diabetes monitor app, as well as for the general evaluation of health. Dip.io achieved an ORCHA Score of 76% on iOS.

Take a look at how we are working with West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group to integrate health apps into their Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) in order to help prevent diabetes.

Due to our continual re-review process, all app scores are subject to change. As such, we’d always encourage you to view our app reviews on our App Library, as this reflects Live data and app updates which are continuously changing. Our re-review process ensures that the most up-to-date information for the latest version of an app can be accessed via our App Library.

Here at ORCHA, we’re continuously testing and questioning apps, on the lookout for apps which are safe, secure, easy to use and, most importantly, deliver real health outcomes. We now look at 226 elements, to help give health professionals and consumers an informed choice on which health apps to choose.

To help app developers produce the best apps, we’re sharing tips from across the 226 important aspects, which together may help to set your app apart from the rest!

Tip #2: Navigation

To make sure that users can navigate their way around the app, it is advantageous to provide the necessary steps and tabs from one screen to the next. During the review process, we are looking for those simplistic yet significant aspects which will bring value to the user-friendly experience.

We recommend considering a “Home” button (a landing position), a “Back” button (returning to the previous page), and a “Search” function to aid information-finding.

Furthermore, integration of a “Share” button allows users to export their data as desired or even promote the app itself. Not forgetting a Help/About section – your chance to guide individuals through your different functions on a more familiar level.

Great example apps to keep you on track include:

Healthera – NHS Prescription App & Pharmacy Finder

Dario Diabetes Management

Komoot – Cycling & Hiking Maps