Researchers at the University of Southern California are building a mobile app aimed at helping older consumers exercise more.

If the infomercials are to be believed, older adults want cellphones that are anything but smart. With oversized displays and one-touch medical alert buttons, products like the Jitterbug flip phone are simple by design, says Stacey Schepens Niemiec, assistant professor of research at the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy

But technology usage trends among seniors are changing faster than ever. According to the Pew Research Center, 42% of Americans aged 65-and-older own a smartphone. As the digital gap between generations narrows, USC researchers expect to use the potential of smartphone apps to improve the lives of older Americans,” says Schepens Niemiec,.

“We’re looking at a wonderful opportunity for utilizing mobile devices to promote wellness and prevent disease,” Schepens Niemiec says.

USC has received a $468,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging to develop and test MovingUp, a multi-feature smartphone app designed to facilitate older adults’ levels of physical activity.

“Despite its vast potential, mobile health technology for older adults is largely untapped,” Schepens Niemiec says. “More than 90% of older adults don’t meet national guideline recommendations for physical activity, and smartphone apps are promising tools that can change health behaviors.”

USC researchers will build the app using data from occupational science, psychology and public health research. Three of the five features to be tested include messaging that promotes positive attitudes toward aging, a coach that suggests ways to intensify everyday activities and suggestions for activities to combat sedentary time. To date, no other app on the market specifically targets older adults’ activity levels, USC says.

Schepens Niemiec will then beta test the MovingUp app with research participants and analyze the resulting data in order to discover what parts of the app are most effective and why. She sees this study as a critical methodological step for advancing the science of mobile health technology.

“Most smartphone apps lack scientific evaluation, but the research that my team is doing will help to fill this void,” Schepens Niemiec says.

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