Evaluating the BoosterBuddy Mobile App: Innovative uses of REDCap on the Internet

Lauren Fox, OT MHSU Therapy Service

Agenda • Background on the development of the

BoosterBuddy app • Evaluating BoosterBuddy • Role of REDCap

BoosterBuddy is a free app designed to help teens and young

adults improve their mental health. www.viha.ca/boosterbuddy

Booster Buddy was created by Island Health in collaboration with teens and young adults with lived experience. This app was made possible thanks to the generous support of Coast Capital Savings through the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.

Visioning Focus Group

Twenty-five stakeholders attended a six-hour focus group to identify and prioritize needs and solution ideas.

12 youth with lived experience 2 family members 2 tech industry 9 service providers

They wanted an app to evoke

positive emotions.

• Encouragement • Positive feedback • A sense of progress and forward movement • A feeling of connection and companionship • Feeling capable • A sense of ownership, “being in the driver’s

seat”.

And do more besides …

• Free • Attractive • Simple and easy to use • Fun • Tracking and reminder

tools • Coping resources

Youth Design Team

A team of young people with lived experience, their peers and family members …

And clinical experts from all over Island Health …

Partnered with an award-winning app development company …

And translate the vision into reality.

Does BoosterBuddy do what we hoped it would?

Downloads and Ratings

• Over 12,000 downloads since Sept 2014 • 5 star review on App Store/4.4 stars on Google

Play

Reviews and E-mailed Feedback

“I find it comforting and motivating while depressed.” “I love all the features and I find myself accomplishing more goals every day.” “I particularly appreciate that it builds your strength from where you are when depressed (and not where you should be if you were not).” “I have used this app to bring myself from the brink of disaster to a place where I can cope and deal with my problems.”

But we want to know more …

• Analytic data: – How long do people use the app once they

download it? – Which parts of the app do they use the most? – What problems are the most common?

• Focused qualitative and quantitative feedback: – Specific questions on preferences and suggestions

for improvement. – Pre and post measures of efficacy

Barriers to Evaluation

• We have to comply with the Personal Information Protection Act so we can’t use free, readily available analytic programs used by most aps. This data would be stored outside Canada and wouldn’t be rigorously secure.

• We have users from all over the world. Local focus groups or trials won’t give us a wide range of qualitative/quantitative responses.

Solutions • Analytics solution

– We built the BoosterBuddy app to send analytic information to the internet side of REDCap using secure API tokens.

– The information is stored anonymously in a secure Canadian server that complies with PIPA.

– Users agree to opt-in to sending analytics. They can use the app even if they don’t agree.

– The process received Privacy Impact Assessment approval.

Solutions

Good 18,173

Not Great 19,736

Struggling7,940

Crisis, 833 Can easily visualize usage patterns from large numbers of users. This data can be used to improve the app.

Solutions

The ability for devices to send data directly to REDCap in a secure way can be useful in research.

Solutions • User satisfaction survey solution

– For informal quality improvement or for formal REB approved research.

– Can build a questionnaire in REDCap including formal measurement inventories.

– Can have REDCap send e-mailed invitations to participants with a link to a secure survey.

– Answers are stored securely in REDCap and results can be analyzed in REDCap.

– Surveys can be responsive -- different questions or inventories can be given depending on participants answers.

Solutions Advantages for research • Study participants are entering their responses using

a web-based interface at their convenience … in their own time and place.

• Researchers can reach more participants over a wider geographic range.

• Results can be stored and analyzed in REDCap. • Consent and compensation can occur via REDCap.

Participants don’t have to be seen in person.