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