1. Mobile personal safety refers to using smartphone applications (apps) on smartphones to help individuals feel safe when travelling alone or unfamiliar situations, providing quick and quick access to help. Apps may feature features that track and communicate your location as well as panic buttons that can be activated at the push of a button so family or friends can monitor where you are at all times, calling emergency services as necessary if required.
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3. Apps available on both Google Play and Apple App Store that claim to provide personal safety are numerous; however, scientific proof for their effectiveness remains limited. Lone worker alarm While apps that promote behavioral change are thoroughly assessed, personal safety apps that may help vulnerable individuals improve their well-being have not received equal scrutiny. Apps are frequently touted by developers and media as useful; however, their reviews reveal that many users find them untrustworthy or unreliable - this finding is particularly concerning since the UK Government has called for policy discussions about using apps to combat violence; individuals should have free access to use such applications.
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6. An extensive search was carried out using an established methodology in May 2021 on all iOS and Android apps available for download in the UK, meeting certain criteria such as these.
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8. Reviewers were asked to evaluate each included app for theme and content analysis. Most reviews were positive while a few reported negative experiences; positive experiences often involved ease-of-use; while negative ones related to privacy or reliability concerns; some reviewers called for greater pricing transparency as some appeared to charge for functions which would provide protection.
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10. Analysis revealed that apps studied were associated with various positive outcomes, with statistically significant variations between intervention and control arms in two studies (one on dating violence prevention and sexual assault prevention, the other on self-harm/suicide prevention). Thirdly, three studies yielded results which were nonstatistically significant; none reported harm to participants. However, several limitations were identified as well, including a need to assess the effect of app design and functionality; conduct studies in LMICs; and include objective outcome measures like reporting victimization or pre-post professional psychological risk evaluation for depression into future research. However, the findings indicate that mobile personal safety apps offer tremendous promise and should be further explored. This is especially pertinent given the necessity of developing policies on using apps to prevent violence as well as conducting quality assurance for such apps.
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12. Homepage: https://loneworkerdevices.com/lone-worker-safety-devices/