NAG: the Non-Adherence Gadget to motivate and remind children to follow their medical treatments

NAG, the Non-Adherence Gadget is an app that encourage adherence to treatment plans for young people with chronic health conditions. The paediatrician can add patients' treatments and parents can add the timing of notifications/alarms of when the treatment should be undertaken on the app. The app uses alarms to remind the child to follow the treatments and uses responses to the alarms to reward the child through a magical garden that grows as they adhere. When adherence is poor, NAG will initiate conversations between the child and an animated avatar that uses dialogue based on cognitive behaviour therapy and motivational interviewing. In the intervention arm, patients will have access to the NAG app for 3 months. Participants have opportunities to interact with the app (such as responding to the alarm, choosing rewards, interacting with the avatar) but it will be up to the participant whether they wish to interact or not. The conversations initiated by the avatar are designed by the clinicians in the research team (the psychologist and paediatrician) and are generic conversations around treatment adherence and barriers to following treatment with discussion of suggested solutions, based on cognitive behavioural therapy theories. Poor adherence is when patients report never following the treatment advice. The app analytics will be used to assess and monitor reported adherence.