Using apps as part of your clinical practice.
Have you ever googled a health condition?Research says your patients have.
Our NHS clinicians have been using apps as part of patient assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for years. We can help you incorporate apps into your clinical practice. This guide will help you understand why and how of using apps clinically.
Health apps can aid recovery and rehabilitation. Using the right app is key. Specifically designed health apps can be a useful tool during rehabilitation as can general non-health apps. Here at mytherappy we have complied them all together to make it easier for you. We include both health and non health apps as our clinicians find both are successful.
Why use apps clinically?
The results speak for themselves. We knew that patients and staff were telling us that using apps was working, but we wanted to be sure.
We ran a clinical audit for six months.
Patients were allocated a treatment programme consisting of apps or traditional methods. Even we were surprised at the difference and the impact using apps made.
Our clinicians and patients tell us that using apps
- Increases motivation
- Instant feedback
- Makes rehabilitation fun
- Easily portable
- Discreet
- Works with your existing programme
Our audit findings are supported and mirrored in the evidence base emergency from clinical research studies.
How to use health apps clinically.
Apps can be used with patients as:
- a Treatment tool with the therapist during therapy sessions in hospital
- in patients homes as part of their independent home exercise programme
- an information resource for patients and their families.
The Mytherappy team use health apps across all of our clinical areas, this includes the Acute hospital units, rehabilitation units, outpatients and Community rehabilitation. Health apps are a tool to be used in conjunction with therapy or treatment and not a replacement.
They are always used towards functional goals and transferred into function. We see apps as a modernisation of our therapy toolkit not a replacement.
“very successful, patients enjoy. Easy to use … helps patients engage. Can see improvements.” Kirsty Support Worker
Our team have access to a variety of tablets some of which we loan to patients. Most of these have been sourced through charitable funds. We also encourage patients to download the health apps to there own devices.
"Therapy download - Using apps for Rehabilitation" Presentation. Free presentation we completed in 2016 for the Stroke Association. The presentation details how to use apps in more depth.
“Great for complex topics ..contextually and visually engaging. great tool” Relative
Fundraising Tablets
NHS funds are tight. Charitable sources are a good place to start to fundraise purchasing apps or tablets. The Stroke Association and other leading health charities have some great grants for patients.
For rehab units we acquired funds through our hospital charities and also through the local Tesco fund raising scheme. Most supermarkets do these. See their websites on how to apply.
Digital Safety
All of our apps are tested using our unique 50 point digital safety check developed in conjunction with the NHS health apps library and then clinically within the NHS by our national network. We are unable to share this criteria.
If you have an app you would like tested please do tell us via our suggest an app section.
MARS Mobile App Rating Scale is a freely available app critiquing system that we recommend.