Smartphone app to support goal setting in pediatric rehabilitation: app development, usability and acceptability study

OBJECTIVES: Setting treatment goals is the core of the pediatric rehabilitation process. The participation of the children and their families is foundational to this approach. Goal setting would benefit from being standardized using formal procedures and guidelines. This study aimed to develop a smartphone app to guide rehabilitation professionals through the whole collaborative goal-setting process with children who have physical health related disabilities and their families and to explore its usability and acceptability. METHODS: There were 3 phases of app development. In phase 1, we analyzed the literature to establish key app components. Then, we worked with a development company to build a prototype. In phase 2, 7 rehabilitation professionals evaluated the usability of each function, and we made improvements according to their feedback. In phase 3, 14 rehabilitation professionals tested the app in clinical practice with 53 children. The usability and acceptability of the app were evaluated using standardized questionnaires (System Usability Scale (SUS), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)) and through semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: According to the literature, effective goal setting in pediatric rehabilitation involves understanding the child's preferences and needs, employing validated methodologies such as the SMART model to formulate goals, engaging children and families as collaborators, and fostering inter-professional communication. The "Kid'EM-app" was built on these principles. It comprises two interfaces: "Kid'EM-appVPro," designed for professionals to guide them in this practice, and "Kid'EM-appVFam," intended for families to collaborate after professional invitation. The phase 2 results showed that all the functions were used except chat/file sharing. The phase 3 results showed that the app was usable in clinical practice (mean SUS = 70.9/100, SD = 10.9; mean TAM ease of use = 71.4/100, SD = 15.1). The application aligned with the values of the professionals who seek to involve children more in their care. DISCUSSION: The "Kid'EM-app" is an all-in-one acceptable and usable solution designed to guide rehabilitation professionals through each aspect of goal setting. Consideration of both feedback from the field and scientific evidence enabled to us to identify content requirements and implementation barriers that must be overcome to facilitate use of the "Kid'EM-app" in clinical practice and accelerate knowledge translation.