Graduation Date

5-2015

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Occupational Therapy

Department or Program

Occupational Therapy

Department or Program Chair

Ruth Ramsey, EdD, OTR/L

First Reader

Julia Wilbarger, PhD, OTR/L

Abstract

It is estimated that of the 85% of Americans that own cell phones, over half of these cell phone owners use apps on their phone (Fox & Duggan, 2012; Purcell, 2011). According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2013), by 2015, 500 million mobile device users will be using mobile health, or “m-Health” apps. Healthcare professionals are increasingly adopting mobile technology as an innovative, cost-efficient, and timesaving tool that may promote patient wellness and disease prevention (Kumar, 2013; mHealth Bible, 2013). Although mobile technology is a natural fit to the field of occupational therapy, research demonstrates that few resources exist for finding apps for use in occupational therapy intervention with children (Hoesterey & Chappelle, 2012; Waite, 2012). The purpose of this project was to develop a free and open-source app that serves as a centralized database of apps beneficial to pediatric occupational therapy intervention. Dominican University of California Occupational Therapy graduate students partnered with Mr. Ruben Rivera of Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) in developing and implementing this project. As a result, an app titled PediApp Finder was created for mobile Android platforms and published on Google Play for free public download. The main goals of this project were to provide a resource tool for pediatric occupational therapists that would facilitate and streamline the process of searching for apps for use in pediatric intervention, as well as to provide a platform in which therapists can share the most up-to-date app technology in order to stay current and relevant in pediatric therapy. A pilot version of PediApp Finder was shared with four pediatric occupational therapists along with a Likert scale survey for evaluation of the app’s content, function, and design. Results of this survey guided the final refinement phase of the PediApp Finder development process. PediApp Finder is now currently available for free public download on Google Play.

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