Mobile app intervention to promote healthy salt consumption in adults

• Grant number: 20/13588-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: August 01, 2021 - July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nursing - Public Health Nursing
• Principal Investigator: Marilia Estevam Cornélio
• Grantee: Marilia Estevam Cornélio
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Enfermagem. Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

It is estimated that the Brazilian population consumes more than twice the daily salt recommendation - less than 5 grams of salt per day - and there is sufficient evidence to link high salt consumption with the development and worsening of cardiovascular diseases. Plans and guidelines, driven by international and government agencies, encourage the promotion of healthy intake of this nutrient in several countries; however, there is a shortage of interventions to change this behavior, built from effective methodological designs. Changing people's behavior is not a simple task for educators, researchers, health professionals and those responsible for creating and implementing public policy strategies. Advances in the use of information technologies such as mobile applications have made it possible to integrate these strategies due to the low cost and easy access to health promotion practices. Thus, this study aims to design and test an intervention to promote healthy salt consumption in adults, through the use of a mobile application. This is a longitudinal study, with a quasi-experimental design, that will be carried out with adults recruited in one of the basic health units in a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo. The study was divided into three modules. The first module refers to the design of the intervention, using the Behavior Change Wheel guide, and comprises three consecutive phases, the first being the understanding of unhealthy salt consumption; the second, to identify the intervention's functions; and the third phase, identifying the content options and implementing the intervention. The second module corresponds to the development of the mobile application, and the third module refers to the application and evaluation of the effect of the intervention through quasi-experimental study. The results of this study are expected to propose an intervention offered through a mobile application that has greater chances of effectiveness in promoting a healthier consumption of salt among the adult population. If shown to be effective, this application can be used on a large scale for the entire population. (AU)