1. mHealth Tools to Improve Asthma
Self-Management among Urban
School Children
A partnership between Boston Children’s Hospital &
Gecko Health Innovations
2. CareTRx mHealth Technology: Simple Management App for Asthma
The CareTRx Asthma & COPD Journal app is a simple tool to help kids and parents track
medication use, symptoms, triggers, and peak flow while getting friendly feedback about
best management behaviors.
Notification & Feedback
Right info at the right time for the right patients,
based on clinical guidelines
Medication Reminders
Reminders for every scheduled dose allows users
to quickly track medication use
Asthma Journal
Track symptoms, triggers, peak flow, control, and
other health related data
Fun & Engaging
Earn badges for good self-management behaviors
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3. Host Site: Boston Children’s Hospital
The pilot is led by Dr. Wanda Phipatanakul, an allergist at Boston Children’s Hospital
Asthma Clinic and Investigator for Urban Pediatric Asthma populations research
consortium
High Urban Asthma Prevalence among Kids
Higher than average asthma prevalence and requires
simple and cost-effective interventions for kids and
families.
Partnership with Schools
Boston Children’s help monitor asthma surveillance and
provide educational resources to kids and nursing staff.
Access to the Asthma Clinic
Boston Children’s asthma clinic and community health
worker program to provide treatment, home
assessments, and education and support services.
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4. Participants Pediatric participants between the ages of 4-17 years with poorly controlled
asthma will be enrolled from inner-city schools/community/clinics in the
Boston-Cambridge area.
Study Design A pre-post design will be used to assess changes in self-
management behaviors and asthma control. Participants will use the
CareTRx for Health Programs app and be followed for 6 months.
Outcome
Metrics
Outcomes metrics included asthma control score, medication use, and
satisfaction with self-management tools will be assessed at baseline
and post intervention.
Future
Directions
Secondary assessment on asthma exposures will be conducted in correlation
with medication use to provide insight into environment risk factors
and potential trigger ‘hot-spots’.
Pilot: mHealth Tools to Improve Asthma Self-Management
This pilot aims to assess whether mobile health application can help pediatric patients and
their families better manage asthma and improve control.
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5. Enrollment Poorly controlled asthmatic children will be recruited from the existing Urban
School Asthma program conducted by Boston Children’s. Children and parents
will be consented during enrollment. Participants are required to have a smart
device.
Intervention Participants will be provide access to the CareTRx app and be given instructions
and a short tutorial on how to use it.
Study Visits Participants will complete 2 in-person clinic visits at the beginning of the trial and
post-intervention to measure asthma control and follow questions. Follow up
visits will occur every 4 weeks to assess control and continued participation.
Post-
Intervention
Participants will complete a final in-person visit to measure outcomes and be
debriefed about the study. Participants will be told how they can follow up with
study results or get more information about CareTRx or Boston Children’s
asthma services.
Pilot Methods: mHealth Tools to Improve Asthma Self-Management
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This pilot aims to assess whether mobile health application can help pediatric patients and
their families better manage asthma and improve control.
6. Questions
To learn more about the CareTRx technology you can visit
us at www.caretrx.com
To learn more about Boston Children’s Hospital asthma
clinic you can visit us at http://www.childrenshospital.org/
