mindfulness therapy native mobile app
users: patients with a specific type of chronic pain
the problem: existing prescriptive drug treatment options for patients with chronic pain can often cause more problems than they solve. therapy is expensive and can require more effort than patients can expend – plus, scheduled appointments don’t treat unplanned flare-ups. how might we deliver effective CBT-ACT therapy to patients wherever they may be in their relation to their condition?
goals:
- implement Acceptance-Commitment Therapy (ACT) education content consumption flow by establishing program architecture for android and iOS native apps
- provide interactive moments for patients to reflect on their condition and record responses for later
- construct lean YAML-based content management system for text, audio, and image content types
- establish pacing goals for patients to consume content, analytics to track actual patient pace, nudging & gating features to correct patients to “right pace”
- maintain focus on HIPAA Compliance and clinical best practices throughout development, including prep for a medical device Quality Management audit before FDA Pivotal Trial
lessons learned:
- information architecture depends on definition of ubiquitous language. align all parties on agreed-upon terminology early
- define content development processes early to align on protocol for newly completed content to be published vs. later edits
- all-team meetings are worth the overhead vs. lots of small group conversations that can lead to rampant misalignment
