Purpose: Vacations have the potential to preserve and increase psychological resources that buffer the negative impact of job stress. However, positive vacation effects on employee health and well-being are generally short-lived or fail to appear at all. We developed a smartphone application to increase and prolong beneficial vacation effects in employees.
Methodology: The app is based on Newman, Tay and Diener´s DRAMMA model. Two weeks before, during, and two weeks after vacation, app users are challenged to engage in a short daily activity aimed at increasing mental detachment from work, relaxation, autonomy, mastery, meaning and affiliation. The user keeps a diary of these activities by taking photos or writing notes which can later be reviewed.
Results: We will present the design criteria and theoretical background used to develop the app. Moreover, first results from an ongoing intervention study and face-to-face structured user experience surveys will be presented. The challenges and constraints in the design process will also be discussed.
Limitations: Adherence may be lower than in face-to-face interventions and non-usage attrition is a common problem in online interventions. This may be partly counteracted by personalized feedback.
Practical Implications: Evidence-based mobile interventions may facilitate well-being and increase the benefits of recovery periods. Apps may constitute behavioral interventions “in your pocket”.
Originality: This app may provide new insights on the importance of different recovery mechanisms. Bottom-up, adaptive interventions using smartphone apps constitute innovative, cost-efficient tools to deliver individualized behavioral support and to collect empirical data at the same time.