Development of H.E.R.O. (Health/care environment for research or organizations): A platform to develop, host, and maintain digital health interventions and programs

1 PROJECT SUMMARY 2 3 Digital Health Interventions (DHIs) have the capability to reach and positively impact far more people across a 4 large geographical area compared to health interventions that require in-person attendance and use. Compared 5 to in-person health interventions, DHIs require fewer resources to operate (e.g., fewer staff, less space) and may 6 also help lessen participants / clients’ burden by requiring fewer resources of them, such as saving costs and 7 time by foregoing travel and enabling greater flexibility for when they would use the DHIs (e.g., lunch break, on 8 their own time). DHIs additionally offer other capabilities to fine-tune and tailor content, activities, and messaging 9 to the individual, couple, as well as group levels – further increasing their relevance, personalization, and 10 customization. Despite these advantages, the resources required to develop DHIs are extensive and often 11 require several years, multiple grants, and significant costs just to build 1 webapp or native app. Moreover, there 12 are currently no viable solutions for the long-term sustainability and maintenance of DHIs, which is essential to 13 reach their utmost potential for wide-scale dissemination and implementation. The proposed 1-year SBIR Phase 14 1 project will provide a solution to these challenges by developing a functional prototype of the HERO 15 (Health/care Environment for Research and Organization programs) platform. The prototype of the HERO 16 platform will be secure, HIPAA compliant, intuitive to use software that is state-of-the-art by including a suite of 17 menu options with both a user and admin portal interfaces to create and/or host DHIs over time. The HERO 18 platform will be have 2 respective pathways that reflect the primary purpose for using the software: (1) to develop 19 and evaluate DHIs via research studies, and (2) to host and link already developed (and efficacious) DHI 20 programs with healthcare settings that have an existing website. To bring the proposed solution to reality, we 21 have a compiled a talented research and web development team with an established history of collaboration 22 centered on DHIs (9+ years). To inform and develop the HERO platform prototype, the MPIs will lead a talented 23 team of software and UI/UX engineers along with a diverse Topical Expert Panel, paired with obtaining input 24 from 600 key stakeholders (DHI researchers, healthcare leaders) across different health domains. The proposed 25 project will leverage best practices of Human-Centered Design, and solicit and integrate feedback from 600 key 26 stakeholders and an experienced Topical Expert Panel to identify key features and functions to include in the 27 software (Aim 1), and apply mock- and test-case scenarios to create a functional software prototype of the HERO 28 platform (Aim 2). The scientific premise, rigor, and innovation of the HERO platform aligns with the need to 29 help ensure the sustainability of DHIs by addressing challenges of dissemination and implementation, while also 30 minimizing the required resources to develop tailored DHIs for a variety of populations and health/care outcomes.