A Mixed-Methods Feasibility Study of a Gamified Therapy Prescription App for Children with Neurodisability.

Abstract

Aim: Determine the feasibility of a gamified therapy (occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology) prescription app developed for children with neurodisability for delivering school and home therapy programs (the Zingo app).

Method: A mixed-methods feasibility study was conducted with children (and their parents, therapists, and teachers) with neurodisability (n = 8, female= 5) who were prescribed a 4-week individualized therapy program by their usual treating therapist using Zingo. Primary outcome measures were program adherence, engagement, app quality, and user experience, collected with quantitative and qualitative methods.

Results: Mean adherence to the program was 58.0% (SD 27.2). Our combined Engagement Index (EI) score was 74.4% (SD 11.7). App quality measured using Mobile Application Rating Scale- User version was 4.6/5 (SD 0.7, n = 6) for parents, 4.6/5 (SD 0.5, n = 5) for teachers, and 4.4/5 (SD 0.6, n = 6) for therapists. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews yielded a primary theme of "app as motivator" for therapy.

Conclusions: Adherence findings were affected by COVID-19 outbreak however remain comparable with other studies in this cohort. EI findings compared favorably with other studies. The findings are supportive of the feasibility of Zingo for delivering home and school therapy programs for children with neurodisability and was found to motivate therapy program completion.