Reducing Disparities in Access to Evidence-Based Services for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Through Technology

Description

The proposed pilot project aims to extend the reach of evidence-based behavioral intervention services for children from low-SES and ERM families by developing the first school-based after-school intervention model for elementary school children with ADHD and enhancing it with mobile health (mHealth) technology. In partnership with an urban elementary school, the investigators will recruit panels of key opinion leaders representing five stakeholder groups, including teachers, school mental health professionals, after-school staff, parents, and children with ADHD to participate in a series of three focus groups that aim to:

Aim 1: Assess the existing resources, organizational capacity, and unmet needs of low-SES and ERM children with ADHD at the school. Focus groups will be conducted with each stakeholder panel to identify the service capacity and unmet needs of children with ADHD. A logic model of the problem will be developed to inform the identification of existing evidence-based interventions and mHealth solutions that could fit the context.

Aim 2: Adapt existing interventions and design mock mHealth application prototypes. Intervention models and mHealth solutions will be presented to stakeholder panels in a second set of focus groups to solicit feedback about the perceived need for adaptations to the interventions and fit of the mHealth solutions with the needs, environment, conditions, capacity, and culture of the target school/population. Adaptations will be made the to intervention and mock mHealth examples based on stakeholder feedback will produce an intervention model prototypes.

Aim 3: Evaluate the perceived usability, acceptability and feasibility of the intervention model and mock mHealth prototypes. A third set of focus groups with stakeholder panels will assess their perceptions of the intervention model and mock mHealth prototypes. Usability testing of the mHealth prototypes will be conducted with three members of each panel to identify design issues, assess task completion, and solicit user feedback.

Impact: The findings of the present project will lay the foundation for a subsequent proposal for funding (e.g., R21, R34) to further develop the intervention materials and mHealth applications and evaluate their feasibility and initial impact in a pilot implementation trial.