Go Kids: Evaluation of a school-based therapy prescription app

The intervention will be a 4-week school program of prescribed therapy activities using the app we have developed for this purpose. The app is gamified and employs recognised behaviour change techniques based on Self-Determination Theory. It is also interdisciplinary, being designed for physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists. This program will be prescribed by the child’s usual treating therapist, who will set up the child’s program activities based on previous assessment and clinical knowledge of the child, as per normal practice. These activities may be selected from the library of therapy activity videos in the app or recorded in the customised video recording feature of the app and built into a school therapy program. The library of activity videos includes: exercises (e.g. plank on knees, bicycle legs, clam shells), stretches (e.g. piriformis stretch, triceps stretch, passive adductor stretch), balance activities (e.g. seated reaching on fit ball, single leg balance- flamingo), gross motor (e.g. frog jumps, skipping), fine motor (e.g. opening containers, lacing board), sensory-perception (e.g. sensory rice treasure hunt, spot the difference), expressive language (e.g. conjunctions- board game, word meanings- tower game), and receptive language (object cards- sorting categories, instructions- barrier game). The activities selected for the school therapy program is individualised to the child’s needs, including the selection of therapy activities to practice, and the dosage/parameters. The decision about frequency of therapy activity practice will be made jointly by the therapist and the teacher, considering classroom schedules, routines, and environmental and equipment needs. The therapist will deliver the school program to the child using the new app, providing the child and education staff (e.g. teacher or education assistant) with instructions on how to access and use the app. The child’s parent will receive an email with a website link to download the prototype app with an access code to log in and access their program. The child will access the program by logging into the app and going through the prescribed activities. The app employs an exercise timer for each exercise, recording exercise completion, and children can also access the app's gamified features to review progress and receive rewards.