1. VA Mobile Applications for Mental Health: Designing a
Patient-Centered User Experience Julia Hoffman, Psy.D. Mobile Apps
Lead | Clinical Psychologist National Center for PTSD (VA) Faculty
Affiliate National Center for Telehealth & Technology
(DoD)
2. Problem Statement (Barriers and Needs) Veterans Stigma
Logistics (Geographic distance, busy schedules, etc.) Intermittent
symptoms / Sub- threshold or non-disorder specific problems
Engagement, retention, and implementation problems Need to address
whole person with various co-occurring problems Risk of relapse VA
Services Finite resources throughout system ( staffing,
appointments, non-standard times) Differing quality of services
available in different areas + lack of specialty services Competing
demands on Providers time Need to establish outcomes monitoring
Limited opportunities to engage families and communities
3. Mobile Applications as a Solution? The recent emergence and
pervasiveness of mobile devices has led to innovations in clinical
care that address some of these challenges. The ultimate goals:
Improve treatment delivery By increasing efficiency, accessibility,
and alleviating implementation challenges. Increase treatment
effectiveness Effective tools to provide psychoeducation, develop
treatment strategies, practice invaluable skills introduced in
therapy, improve tracking and monitoring capabilities (including
in-the-moment assessment), and improve upon risk mitigation.
4. Applicable Characteristics of Mobile Technology Anonymous
and Safe Accessible and Immediate Targeted / Patient- Centered
Connected
5. Mobile App Target Users Healthcare Providers VA Providers
Community Providers Concerned Significant Others Children Adults
Care- givers Veterans & Service Members VA Patients Patients
Enrolled in Evidence-Based Psychotherapies
6. The PTSD Coach Timeline
7. PTSD Coach
8. PTSD Coach Screenshots
9. Tool Examples
10. Metrics of Success: Reach Increased usage of Veterans
Crisis Line Versioning for Canada, Israel, Australia and for
inner-city violence and cancer 2011 Winner FCC Chairmans Award for
Advancements in Accessibility 2012 Winner ATA Presidents Innovation
Award 2011 Nextgov.com Best Government App 2011 Yahoos Top 10
Health Apps
11. Evaluation of PTSD Coach (Kuhn et al, in submission)
Purpose: Feasibility, acceptability, perceived helpfulness Sample:
54 PTSD Residential Patients 40 men, 12 women Age ranges from 24-
69 (mean of 45) 48% white, 17% AA, and 15% Hispanic Method Patients
used app over 3-days (weekend) Post-use survey and focus group *%
endorsed at moderately to extremely helpful
13. PE Coach PE Coach is a fully 508 compliant smartphone
application for iOS and Android devices. The app is designed to be
used in the context of face-to-face clinical care with a trained PE
provider. PE Coach: Replaces workbook, photocopies, tape recorder
to increase adherence and decrease implementation challenges Adds
rich media psychoeducation Allows various customizations to
directly correlate to VA and DoD roll outs
14. PFA Mobile Overview PFA Mobile, is a fully 508 compliant
smartphone application for mobile Apple products. The app is
designed to assist responders who provide Psychological First Aid
(PFA) to adults, families, and children as part of an organized
response effort. PFA Mobile includes: Summaries of PFA fundamentals
PFA interventions matched to specific concerns and needs of
survivors Mentor tips for applying PFA in the field A
self-assessment tool for readiness to conduct PFA A survivors'
needs form for simplified data collection and easy referral
15. UX in a Nutshell Solve exactly the problem you need to
solve, for a specific audience, using only the tools you need to
solve it.
16. mUX Commandments Solve a specific clinical or
implementation challenge. Know (and constrain if necessary) your
audience. Include no more than 5 major functions. This focus on
parsimony should be applied at every level. Use the language of the
target audience and imagery that they can relate to (or, at least,
will not reject). All labels should be self-evident. Understand the
science. Know what you dont know. Map the intervention on to the
platform accordingly. Focus on motivation. Understand where it
comes from. Learn how to increase it. Use game mechanics, freedom
of choice, interactivity, and personalization where possible to
drive continued engagement. Understand and accept constraints.
Separate content from structure and function as much as possible.
Outsource and consult as much as possible to those with boots on
the ground to resolve real-world implementation challenges. Plan
for iterative design.
17. Questions? Julia E. Hoffman, Psy.D. [email protected]
Email to be added to distribution list to try new apps.