App helps manage children's mental health

App helps manage children's

mental health

Caring for a child with mental health or neurodiverse conditions is no easy task and healthcare providers (HCPs) and parents are reminded of that fact nearly every day.

HCPs ARE HEAVILY reliant on the parents, teachers and caregivers to provide feedback about the child’s care progress, symptoms, behaviour and quality of life during the preceding six to 12 months. Due to the nature of reporting over extended periods, the reported information is often biased due to our human inability to accurately recall past events. In addition,

HCPs seldom have an integrated view of a child’s holistic treatment plan, which often includes multiple clinicians and therapists.

Having this context is essential to support integrated care decision-making. Although HCPs are typically open to introducing new tools in their practice, new tools are often incredibly expensive, overly complicated or do not support their current practice workflows – making the tools unpractical to adopt. As a parent caring for a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gives a whole new dimension to the usual parent responsibilities as both a caregiver and care coordinator. It is now widely acknowledged that living with

ADHD or ASD in the immediate family can adversely impact the quality of life of the parents or caregivers. Following a threeyear collaboration with parents, teachers, clinicians and therapists, Augmental

Technologies launched Tracto late last year, a companion app that empowers parents and HCPs caring for children with mental health conditions. Tracto allows parents to invite teachers and caregivers to collaboratively track a child’s behaviours, symptoms and side effects over time. By giving the team around the child the opportunity to provide input, data is obtained from a wide circle of caregivers, allowing parents as well as HCPs to see the child’s behaviour and response to treatment through the eyes of others.

Now, both positive and negative behaviours can be captured, providing the healthcare provider with a complete view of the child’s symptoms and behaviour during the preceding months. This offers an integrated and balanced input and allows a more robust assessment of the child’s overall mental health status.

Tracto allows parents and teachers to digitally complete clinically validated assessments within the app. Assessment results are instantly available and shareable with HCPs. Currently, only the SNAP-IV (ADHD) parent and teacher assessment is supported, however the team is continuously expanding the supported inapp assessments. Treatment adherence also plays a key role in ensuring clinical outcomes, Tracto enables parent to configure reminders for medication and activities.

HELPING PROVIDERS

HCPs do not have to install or use the app. They simply recommend parents to install the free Tracto app. Parents are able to easily share (email, WhatsApp) care progress reports with HCPs on request that summarises a child’s integrated clinical picture in terms of symptoms, behaviour, side effects, and adherence to medication and activities. These reports are also easily uploaded to the HCP practice management software solution being used if needed. Download the Parent Printout with an easy install QR code, which you can hand out to parents. For more information, visit www. tracto.app or email support@tracto.app. Install the app for free: Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Give your patients free access

TO THE APP

FOR ADHD

BY SCANNING THE QR CODE ON PACK

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ATOMOXETINE 10 10 18 18 25 25 40 40 60 60 80 80

Empowering families caring for children living with ADHD

For further product information contact PHARMA DYNAMICS Email info@pharmadynamics.co.za CUSTOMER CARE LINE +27 21 707 7000

ATTENCIT 10, 18, 25, 40, 60, 80 mg. Each capsule contains atomoxetine hydrochloride equivalent to 10, 18, 25, 40, 60, 80 mg atomoxetine respectively. S5 A51/1.2/0376, 0377, 0378, 0379, 0380, 0381. For full prescribing information, refer to the professional information approved by SAHPRA, October 2020. RADD 18, 27, 36, 54 mg. Each prolonged-release tablet contains 18, 27, 36, 54 mg methylphenidate hydrochloride respectively. S6 A51/1.2/0289, 0290, 0291, 0292. For full prescribing information, refer to the professional information approved by SAHPRA, February 2021. NSCRA765/05/2022. www.mydynamics.co.za