Cut to the arrival of COVID-19. The researchers pivoted to focus on using the MSMH app to confront the
pandemic, particularly in those undeserved communities where it was most destructive. UMN CTSI quickly
supported the effort with funding through its COVID-19 Rapid Response Seed Grant program. Partnering with M
Health Fairview hospital system, the project engaged 400+ patients to use the app.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
COVID-19 Fatigue
According to findings gathered with the MSMH app, simply being tired has a profound influence on whole-person health. Participants who have identified fatigue as a challenge are less likely to have strengths in the areas of mental health, circulation, pain, physical activity, and caretaking/parenting. And when asked how care providers and community organizations can best help them, 74% of participants identified mental health among their top needs.
According to findings gathered with the MSMH app, simply being tired has a profound influence on whole-person health. Participants who have identified fatigue as a challenge are less likely to have strengths in the areas of mental health, circulation, pain, physical activity, and caretaking/parenting. And when asked how care providers and community organizations can best help them, 74% of participants identified mental health among their top needs.
Empowering Community Health
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Plainly Speaking
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
Omaha System domains
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
In MSMH App
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
It started out as part of a dissertation project in 2017. At that time in her research, Robin Austin, now
Assistant Professor at UMN School of Nursing, was focused on better understanding the individual health
challenges and needs of women with cardiovascular disease, by taking into account the perceived strengths that
each reported about the communities in which they resided.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
PROJECT:
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
Researching Strength and Resilience
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
“There will be more diseases. This won't be our last pandemic. But we think that we've hit
upon something that helps us see the whole of health across environmental, psychosocial,
physiological, and health-related behaviors, whether it's a challenge, a need, a strength—all in
one picture with which we can leverage our strengths as we together find the best ways to deal with
whatever happens.”
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
“COVID-19 is further revealing structural divisions in our communities, and we need a complete
data-driven picture, including community strengths, to inform community, stakeholders and policy
decisions. This data is essential to connect individuals with vital resources during this pandemic,
and is critical for policy makers who would not otherwise be aware of these needs.”
—Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
—Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
MSMH 1.0
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.
Cut to the arrival of COVID-19. The researchers pivoted to focus on using the MSMH app to confront the
pandemic, particularly in those undeserved communities where it was most destructive. UMN CTSI quickly
supported the effort with funding through its COVID-19 Rapid Response Seed Grant program. Partnering with M
Health Fairview hospital system, the project engaged 400+ patients to use the app.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
COVID-19 Fatigue
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
Empowering Community Health
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Plainly Speaking
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
In MSMH App
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
Omaha System domains
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
It started out as part of a dissertation project in 2017. At that time in her research, Robin Austin, now
Assistant Professor at UMN School of Nursing, was focused on better understanding the individual health
challenges and needs of women with cardiovascular disease, by taking into account the perceived strengths that
each reported about the communities in which they resided.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
PROJECT:
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
Researching Strength and Resilience
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
“There will be more diseases. This won't be our last pandemic. But we think that we've hit
upon something that helps us see the whole of health across environmental, psychosocial,
physiological, and health-related behaviors, whether it's a challenge, a need, a strength—all in
one picture with which we can leverage our strengths as we together find the best ways to deal with
whatever happens.”
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
“COVID-19 is further revealing structural divisions in our communities, and we need a complete
data-driven picture, including community strengths, to inform community, stakeholders and policy
decisions. This data is essential to connect individuals with vital resources during this pandemic,
and is critical for policy makers who would not otherwise be aware of these needs.”
—Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
—Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
MSMH 1.0
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.
COVID-19 Fatigue
A recently added feature to the SECURE-IBD website is the COVID-19 Risk Calculator, an online tool that uses data collected from the registry to help physicians make a better informed COVID-19 prognosis for their IBD patients. By entering relevant patient information from physical size to country of residence and IBD diagnosis, physicians are provided not with medical advice, but a valuable guide to help calculate the risk of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation, or death for infected patients.
A recently added feature to the SECURE-IBD website is the COVID-19 Risk Calculator, an online tool that uses data collected from the registry to help physicians make a better informed COVID-19 prognosis for their IBD patients. By entering relevant patient information from physical size to country of residence and IBD diagnosis, physicians are provided not with medical advice, but a valuable guide to help calculate the risk of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation, or death for infected patients.
Cut to the arrival of COVID-19. The researchers pivoted to focus on using the MSMH app to confront the
pandemic, particularly in those undeserved communities where it was most destructive. UMN CTSI quickly
supported the effort with funding through its COVID-19 Rapid Response Seed Grant program. Partnering with M
Health Fairview hospital system, the project engaged 400+ patients to use the app.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
Empowering Community Health
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Plainly Speaking
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
In MSMH App
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
Omaha System domains
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
PROJECT:
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
It started out as part of a dissertation project in 2017. At that time in her research, Robin Austin, now
Assistant Professor at UMN School of Nursing, was focused on better understanding the individual health
challenges and needs of women with cardiovascular disease, by taking into account the perceived strengths that
each reported about the communities in which they resided.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
Researching Strength and Resilience
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
“There will be more diseases. This won't be our last pandemic. But we think that we've hit
upon something that helps us see the whole of health across environmental, psychosocial,
physiological, and health-related behaviors, whether it's a challenge, a need, a strength—all in
one picture with which we can leverage our strengths as we together find the best ways to deal with
whatever happens.”
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
“COVID-19 is further revealing structural divisions in our communities, and we need a complete
data-driven picture, including community strengths, to inform community, stakeholders and policy
decisions. This data is essential to connect individuals with vital resources during this pandemic,
and is critical for policy makers who would not otherwise be aware of these needs.”
—Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
—Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
MSMH 1.0
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.
COVID-19 Fatigue
A recently added feature to the SECURE-IBD website is the COVID-19 Risk Calculator, an online tool that uses data collected from the registry to help physicians make a better informed COVID-19 prognosis for their IBD patients. By entering relevant patient information from physical size to country of residence and IBD diagnosis, physicians are provided not with medical advice, but a valuable guide to help calculate the risk of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation, or death for infected patients.
A recently added feature to the SECURE-IBD website is the COVID-19 Risk Calculator, an online tool that uses data collected from the registry to help physicians make a better informed COVID-19 prognosis for their IBD patients. By entering relevant patient information from physical size to country of residence and IBD diagnosis, physicians are provided not with medical advice, but a valuable guide to help calculate the risk of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation, or death for infected patients.
Cut to the arrival of COVID-19. The researchers pivoted to focus on using the MSMH app to confront the
pandemic, particularly in those undeserved communities where it was most destructive. UMN CTSI quickly
supported the effort with funding through its COVID-19 Rapid Response Seed Grant program. Partnering with M
Health Fairview hospital system, the project engaged 400+ patients to use the app.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
Empowering Community Health
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Plainly Speaking
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
In MSMH App
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
Omaha System domains
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
It started out as part of a dissertation project in 2017. At that time in her research, Robin Austin, now
Assistant Professor at UMN School of Nursing, was focused on better understanding the individual health
challenges and needs of women with cardiovascular disease, by taking into account the perceived strengths that
each reported about the communities in which they resided.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
PROJECT:
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
Researching Strength and Resilience
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
“There will be more diseases. This won't be our last pandemic. But we think that we've hit upon
something that helps us see the whole of health across environmental, psychosocial, physiological, and
health-related behaviors, whether it's a challenge, a need, a strength—all in one picture with which
we can leverage our strengths as we together find the best ways to deal with whatever happens.”
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
“COVID-19 is further revealing structural divisions in our communities, and we need a complete
data-driven picture, including community strengths, to inform community, stakeholders and policy
decisions. This data is essential to connect individuals with vital resources during this pandemic, and
is critical for policy makers who would not otherwise be aware of these needs.”
—Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
—Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
MSMH 1.0
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.
Empowering Community Health
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Diana Hawkins, Executive Director of the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and Clarence Jones, community engagement consultant for the Hue-MAN Partnership are just two of the local leaders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area who have worked with researchers to refine and promote the MSMH app. The result has enrichened communication between researchers and community members, with collected data immediately shared back in a whole picture of health that focuses on strengths and assets before challenges and needs—for a new perspective as empowering as it is informational.
Plainly Speaking
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
The success of the MSMH app is built on the simplicity of its interface. In order to promote truthful and accurate responses from users, the app replaces the technical language of lab and medical professionals with real-world identifiers and concepts. So while it leverages the rigor of the Omaha System (Martin, 2005) to address health across four domains with 42 discrete concepts, nearly 30% of the terminology it uses is based on direct input from partnering community members.
In MSMH App
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
My Living
My Mind and Network
My Body
My Self-care
Omaha System domains
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
Environmental
Psychosocial
Physiological
Health-related Behaviors
COVID-19 Fatigue
A recently added feature to the SECURE-IBD website is the COVID-19 Risk Calculator, an online tool that uses data collected from the registry to help physicians make a better informed COVID-19 prognosis for their IBD patients. By entering relevant patient information from physical size to country of residence and IBD diagnosis, physicians are provided not with medical advice, but a valuable guide to help calculate the risk of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation, or death for infected patients.
A recently added feature to the SECURE-IBD website is the COVID-19 Risk Calculator, an online tool that uses data collected from the registry to help physicians make a better informed COVID-19 prognosis for their IBD patients. By entering relevant patient information from physical size to country of residence and IBD diagnosis, physicians are provided not with medical advice, but a valuable guide to help calculate the risk of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation, or death for infected patients.
PROJECT:
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
MyStrengths+MyHealth™ App
CTSA HUB:
University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
PROJECT CREATOR(S):
Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
Researching Strength and Resilience
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
Increased collaboration between university researchers and underserved communities. Improved health assessment of those hit hardest by COVID-19. For researchers at University of Minnesota, it was all just a matter of creating the right mobile app.
It started out as part of a dissertation project in 2017. At that time in her research, Robin Austin, now
Assistant Professor at UMN School of Nursing, was focused on better understanding the individual health
challenges and needs of women with cardiovascular disease, by taking into account the perceived strengths that
each reported about the communities in which they resided.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
Together with her colleague and PhD advisor, Dr. Karen Monsen, Austin created the MyStrengths+MyHealth (MSMH) mobile app to enable users to self-report strengths, challenges, and needs using a simplified version of the multi-disciplinary standardized health terminology known as the Omaha System. With the MSMH app, users could easily make note not just of the health challenges they faced, but also the strengths they acknowledged in themselves in facing those challenges. Users could register their needs but also identify the assets in their community in which they could find help.
Many of UMN CTSI’s funding programs are dedicated to ensuring that locally underserved communities have access to information and research about important health issues. But by 2019, the MSMH app had become an important component of that access. As part of a project called Shifting the Opioid Conversation from Stigma to Strengths (S2S), the MSMH app helped to facilitate communication and dialogue regarding opioid-use disorder, and more broadly demonstrated that when engaged as equal partners, community members were interested in obtaining and using data that revealed a whole-person perspective.
Cut to the arrival of COVID-19. The researchers pivoted to focus on using the MSMH app to confront the
pandemic, particularly in those undeserved communities where it was most destructive. UMN CTSI quickly
supported the effort with funding through its COVID-19 Rapid Response Seed Grant program. Partnering with M
Health Fairview hospital system, the project engaged 400+ patients to use the app.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
The self-reported data from the app has helped researchers identify hidden strengths—and needs—of the most vulnerable. For example, findings show that for many participants, a strong community connection translates into a greater sense of resilience during COVID-19. In fact, participants who say they are well-connected to community resources reported more strengths across all health domains. Along with the many other insights it has provided, the MSMH app has shown the potential benefits when that well-connected sense of community also defines the collaboration between research institutions and the greater public they serve—during COVID-19 and beyond.
“There will be more diseases. This won't be our last pandemic. But we think that we've hit upon
something that helps us see the whole of health across environmental, psychosocial, physiological, and
health-related behaviors, whether it's a challenge, a need, a strength—all in one picture with which
we can leverage our strengths as we together find the best ways to deal with whatever happens.”
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
—Karen Monsen, PhD, RN, FAMIA, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing
“With every other research project I've done, it's always been about the potential to find
better treatments or cures for tomorrow; this is the one research project that I've been involved
with over my career where the goal is to find an answer today—because tomorrow is really too late.”
—Michael D. Kappelman, MD, MPH, Pediatric Gastroenterologist, UNC-Chapel Hill
—Michael D. Kappelman, MD, MPH, Pediatric Gastroenterologist, UNC-Chapel Hill
MSMH 1.0
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.
The MSMH app debuted at the 2017 Minnesota State Fair. Over 380 participated and the results confirmed the feasibility of gathering consumer-generated health data from a web-based health application. Participants found the app easy to use and liked the idea of being able to share health information from their own perspective while including their perceived strengths as part of that process. And beyond proving its feasibility for gathering information, the MSMH app demonstrated it could be used as a tool for greater, more open and honest discussion between researchers and a community of participants.