Personalized Approach To Habits-Sleep (PATH-S), an app to improve sleep for Black teens (ages 14-17) with asthma

KDH Research & Communication (KDHRC) proposes to develop and evaluate an app, Personalized Approach To Habits – Sleep [PATH-S], that will use casual gaming and intermittent reinforcement to encourage Black teens (ages 14-17) with asthma to adopt and persist with personalized habits to improve sleep duration. Although sleep is fundamental for human productivity and health, only one quarter of teens in the U.S. report obtaining recommended amounts of sleep. Sleep problems are magnified among teens with asthma, who are more likely to experience sleep disturbances like trouble falling asleep, wheezing during sleep, frequent nighttime wakening, and daytime sleepiness. Asthma symptoms impact sleep, and poor sleep, in turn, worsens asthma symptoms. The data on overlapping health disparities for Black teens in regard to sleep and to asthma are stark. Because being Black heightens the independent likelihood of both poor sleep and having asthma, it is unsurprising that Black teens with asthma experience worse sleep outcomes than White teens with asthma, and their sleep problems are likely to persist into adulthood. In this Phase I proposal, KDHRC will develop and evaluate the PATH-S minimally viable prototype (MVP), an app that specifically addresses this health disparity and supports Black teens with asthma to build and persist with habits that will build sleep duration, focus, and attention, and decrease asthma symptoms in turn. KDHRC will develop and evaluate PATH-S with technical vendor Thrust Interactive, on Thrust’s existing and research-validated Treks platform. PATH-S will increase user engagement by providing health-related content in the form of a game that breaks behaviors down into simple, daily, evidence-based tasks that the app refers to as “micro-habits.” Users can 1) learn healthy sleep habits and create a personalized path to better sleep; 2) review progress and make plan adjustments; and 3) report their own asthma symptoms and the extent to which their symptoms impacted them. PATH-S will create competition against other users via a leaderboard and provide game-like reinforcement for achievements. PATH-S will sync to a FitBit to allow users to track sleep metrics. In this Phase I project, KDHRC will receive input from an expert advisory committee, develop the PATH-S MVP, conduct user testing of the PATH-S MVP, finalize the PATH-S MVP, and conduct a feasibility study of the PATH-S MVP. To commercialize PATH-S, KDHRC will sell to third party payors, expand PATH-S to support more audiences at risk for sleep problems, and begin direct-to-consumer marketing.