Travel Healthy!

Name: Travel Healthy!
Author: Massachusetts General Hospital

Massachusetts General Hospital

VALIDATED

Shows promise in preliminary research

For:General Public & Enthusiasts

Free

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App Summary

Travel Healthy! is a mobile app for U.S. international travelers to prospectively report symptoms via daily surveys, while also providing tools like a malaria medication reminder and a secure travel wallet. A preliminary pilot study (N=50) demonstrated the feasibility of using the app for participatory surveillance, showing that participants found it easy to use and successfully submitted 755 daily symptom surveys during their trips. The associated research concludes that such mobile health tools have the potential to complement traditional public health surveillance methods for tracking travel-related illnesses.

App Screenshots

Detailed Description

Functionality & Mechanism

Developed by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, this application facilitates daily symptom reporting for participatory public health surveillance. The interface captures self-reported symptom data and passive GPS location information from international travelers, beginning one day pre-travel and concluding three days post-trip. The system integrates ancillary tools including a secure digital wallet for travel documents, medication reminders for malaria prophylaxis, and notifications for regional disease outbreaks. Gamification elements are incorporated to promote user engagement.

Evidence & Research Context

A preliminary pilot study (N=50) evaluated the app's feasibility for participatory surveillance among U.S. international travelers, demonstrating high user engagement.
During the evaluation, 58% of participants (29/50) submitted a total of 105 symptom reports across 755 completed daily surveys.
Geolocated symptom data revealed upper respiratory issues were most frequent (58% of reports), while gastrointestinal symptoms clustered geographically in South Asia.
Post-travel feedback indicated participants found the application easy to use, supporting the viability of its user-centric design for longitudinal data collection.

Intended Use & Scope

The app is designed as a participatory surveillance and personal health-tracking tool for use by international travelers and public health researchers. Its primary utility is the longitudinal collection of self-reported symptom and location data. The system does not provide clinical diagnosis or medical advice; users with acute or severe health concerns should consult a qualified healthcare professional.

Studies & Publications

1 publication

Peer-reviewed research associated with this app.

Pilot/Feasibility Study

Travel Healthy, a mobile app for participatory surveillance among U.S. international travelers

Colubri et al. (2025) · Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

Feasibility confirmed — collected 755 surveys and participants found the app easy to use for travel health tracking.

Global travel plays a role in the spread of infectious diseases. Existing travel surveillance programs collect data before and after trips, resulting in data incompleteness and recall bias. We developed the Travel Healthy mobile app to address these gaps, by enabling U.S. travelers to report daily symptom surveys including GPS location. The app offers traveler tools, including outbreak notices, a travel wallet, and a malaria medication reminder. We developed Travel Healthy following a user-centric approach. We recruited study participants through an online platform and at the Travelers' Advice and Immunization Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, between July 2023 and August 2024. We analyzed demographic, GPS, and self-reported symptom data from the first 50 participants. Data were collected starting one day before the trip and ending three days after. A post-travel feedback survey was performed. Participants visited 204 locations in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Mean age was 33 years and 66 % were female. The most common purposes of travel were leisure and/or business, with 46 (92 %) of participants listing these as traveling reasons. A total of 755 daily symptom surveys were entered, with 105 reporting symptoms, corresponding to 29 of the 50 (58 %) participants. Among all symptoms with GPS data, 58 % were upper respiratory symptoms, 25 % were gastrointestinal (clustered in South Asia), and 17 % were other. Post-travel questionnaires showed that participants found the application easy to use. This pilot study underscores the potential of participatory surveillance tools to complement traditional public health surveillance methods for travel-related illness.

In the Media

UMass Chan lab develops app to keep international travelers healthy, inform researchers of infectious disease trends

UMass Chan Medical School's Andrés Colubri, MFA, PhD, assistant professor of genomics & computational biology, collaborated with Massachusetts General Hospital on the Travel Healthy app to enable infectious disease research and help international travelers stay healthy. Dr. Colubri's multidisciplinary lab of computational scientists, software engineers, and visual designers developed and implemented the app for MGH's Global Health Initiative. The mobile application addresses both traveler health concerns and provides researchers with valuable surveillance data on infectious diseases.

UmassmedRead article

Travel Healthy

University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School developed the Travel Healthy app in collaboration with medical doctors to address survey findings that 81% of people have health concerns while traveling abroad, a worry heightened by the pandemic. The app aims to enhance travelers' experiences in maintaining health with digital tools while enabling symptom reporting for research on global outbreak forecasting using AI. The application serves dual purposes of helping travelers stay healthy and contributing to infectious disease surveillance systems.

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