Therapy App Research Articles

Design and development of an interactive consultation application for mental health management and support

Mental health is a person's emotional and psychological state that affects how individuals feel and behave daily. Mental health issues are among the most discussed topics among adults, with increasing awareness of their impact on overall well-being. Against this background, the researcher decided to design and develop an interactive consultation application for mental health management and support. This research introduces a novel interactive mental health consultation application, uniquely combining real-time professional support with user-centric features like progress tracking, self-help activities, and educational mini-articles. The application's innovative design distinguishes it by offering a holistic platform integrating professional mental health consultations with evidence-based self-management tools. Unlike traditional therapy or standalone self-help apps, this solution bridges gaps in accessibility, affordability, and convenience, addressing challenges faced by individuals with limited access to in-person services due to time constraints, financial barriers, or geographic limitations. The findings underscore the app's transformative potential to democratize mental health care, making support accessible to diverse populations. By integrating professional expertise with user-friendly technology, this research sets a precedent for addressing growing mental health needs through scalable digital solutions. Future iterations could expand multilingual capabilities, further broadening its reach and impact.

Computer-assisted Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Mobile Apps for Depression and Anxiety: Evidence-based Digital Tools for Clinical Practice

Purpose of Review: Provider shortages and other barriers to traditional mental health care have led to the development of technology-based services designed to enhance access and improve the efficiency and convenience of treatment. We reviewed research on computer-assisted cognitive behavior therapy (CCBT) and mobile mental health applications to assess the effectiveness of these methods of delivering or augmenting treatment, evaluating patient and provider uptake, and making recommendations on the clinical use of these tools in the treatment of depression and anxiety. Results: Research on CCBT has found solid evidence for efficacy when the use of a therapeutic computer program is supported by a clinician or other helping professional. Lower levels of efficacy have been found when CCBT is used as a stand-alone treatment. Current CCBT programs have many desirable features; however, few of the current programs incorporate services such as artificial intelligence that have the potential to help improve communication with patients. An increasing number of mobile apps have been created that claim to be useful for depression and/or anxiety, yet caution is warranted before using most due to limited research on effectiveness, low retention rates, and other issues like safety concerns. Summary: Growth in the development of CCBT and mental health applications for depression/anxiety has provided several tools that could enhance treatment delivery. A large number of randomized, controlled trials have documented the effectiveness of CCBT, while research on mobile apps has been much less robust. The advantages and disadvantages of these digital technologies are identified, and recommendations are made for clinical use.

Technology for Young Adults with Stroke: An Australian Environmental Scan.

Technology has the potential to address the unique needs of young stroke survivors. Despite this, little is known about the technological resources available to support young adults with stroke. This study aimed to identify and compile available technological resources that cater to the specific needs of young adults (18-30 years) with stroke in Australia. An environmental scan was conducted from December 2023 to March 2024. Sources included websites, app stores, rehabilitation centres, hospitals, organisations, technology developers, and healthcare professionals. Of the 114 resources identified, 11% were for re-training limb movement, 40% for speech rehabilitation, 20% for medication reminders, and 29% were social media posts offering peer mentoring and support. Most limb movement (75%) and medication reminder (87%) apps were free. However, most speech therapy apps (78%) had associated costs. Social media posts were hosted on Facebook (64%), Instagram (21%), TikTok (9%), YouTube (3%), and other websites (3%). Forty-six percent of the social media posts targeting young stroke survivors did not specify the age group. These resources were identified as available to young people with stroke. Although the resources found focused on young stroke survivors, it was difficult to ascertain the specific age group that was being targeted.

Analysis of cognitive behavioural therapy apps for generalised anxiety disorder: Evidence-based content and user experience

Mental illness substantially contributes to the global burden of disease, with anxiety high in prevalence. The increase of mobile technology, mental health apps have potential to lessen this burden. However, within apps, the use of evidence-based interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) are limited. Regardless, many commercially available mental health apps are highly rated by users, highlighting the need to understand what makes mental health apps valuable to the user. The contribution of this study was to uncover apps that support generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and worry with a CBT basis, explore app functionality, and user experience. Firstly, by identifying apps that support GAD and worry and included CBT. Secondly, by identifying and analysing therapeutic and engagement functions within the apps, and finally, by thematically analysing user reviews. Six apps were identified to support GAD and worry that purported to be CBT-based. However, CBT therapeutic features and engagement features were minimally present in the apps. User reviews yielded 112 comments about the apps and key themes were identified about the app users’ global experiences with the app, and about the combination of technological (e.g., useability, reliability) and therapeutic experiences (e.g., learning and using skills). Future development of quality apps to support GAD and worry must consider the empirical standing of both therapeutic and technology aspects, to provide efficacious and engaging interventions.

Behavioural therapy app for fibromyalgia.

Behavioural therapy app for fibromyalgia.

Comprehensive Survey of Computer-Based Programs Impact on Adolescent Mental Health: Focusing on Depression and Anxiety

With computer-based programs, teen mental health, especially when it comes to sadness and worry, has become a major public health issue. This thorough study looks at the effects of these kinds of programs on teens, trying to figure out how well they work and what problems they might cause. In the first part, we look at previous research that has been done on how common sadness and anxiety are among teens. We also talk about how digital tools are becoming more important for mental health treatments. Key methods used to evaluate these programs, like randomized controlled trials and continuous studies, are looked at to get a full picture of how well they work. The next part talks about the different kinds of computer-based treatments that are out there, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) apps, awareness programs, and virtual reality treatments. The exact ways each type of strategy works and the ideas behind them are talked about in terms of how they affect symptom decrease and mental health in general. The third part gives important information about the problems and restrictions of computer-based solutions. Things like obedience rates, privacy issues, and the digital gap are looked at to show what might get in the way of broad use and success. Finally, suggestions are made for future study and clinical practice, with a focus on how important it is to have strict evaluation methods and specific management strategies that are matched to the growth stages and cultural backgrounds of teens. As more people talk about how to use digital tools in mental health care, this poll adds to the conversation. It supports methods that are based on evidence and put both effectiveness and ethics first.

Musicotherapy mobile applications: what level of evidence and potential role in psychiatric care? A systematic review.

In our times of smartphone ubiquity, mobile applications are an inescapable daily life tool, including in health care. Music therapy has already proven its worth, notably in mental health. Hence, we were interested in the mobile app format for this type of therapy, its level of evidence, how to use it in daily psychiatric care and the leads for future research and innovation. This study carries out a systematic review of scientific literature of this topic on two search engines, PubMed and PubPsych, using these key-words: [(web-application) OR (web-app) OR (smartphone) OR (apps) OR (app)) AND ((music) OR (music therapy) OR (melody)]. Out of a total of 282 studies found by keyword, 31 are included in this review. Several outcomes emerge. These studies relate to existing applications like Music Care, Calm or Unwind, on application prototypes or a potential use of music streaming applications on health care. They involve many different populations and clinical situations, including in hospital environments, for patients with chronic illnesses, different age ranges or for the general population. These musical interventions show a significant effect mainly for anxious symptoms, but also for depression, sleep disorders, pain and other psychiatric or psycho-somatic syndromes. These applications have no significant adverse effects. This review shows that music therapy apps have several potentials for improving mental health care. It could assist psychiatric usual care and could potentially lower medication intake. Nevertheless, the studies on the topic are limited and recent but they open prospects for future research.

Characteristics of mHealth therapy app engagement by young adults with OUD

While rates of opioid use disorder (OUD) continue to rise across the country, young adults with OUD are at particular risk as they have poorer treatment outcomes and lack developmentally appropriate treatment options. The introduction of mobile applications for OUD present a new avenue to improve treatment outcomes for young adults. One such app, reSET® provides app users with weekly cognitive behavioral therapy lessons focusing on addiction with built in contingency management for completion of lessons and negative urine drug screens. This exploratory study aimed to identify the characteristics of patients who engaged with the application, reSET®, as well as to describe potential differences in treatment outcomes between engagers and non-engagers. This observational cohort study analyzed clinical and other program data from 35 young adults between the ages of 20–28 that were involved in the care and prescribed medications for OUD in Baltimore, Maryland during the 12-week period of app prescription. Results indicated that young adults had dichotomous levels of engagement, with almost 30% engaging highly with the app, completing >90% of lessons, and approximately 70% having low engagement, completing <25% of lessons. There were no differences in mental health outcomes, but engagers were more likely to be retained in care at the end of the 12-week prescription as compared to non-engagers. Overall, results suggest that mHealth apps targeted for OUD treatment offer potential treatment benefits for young adults, especially regarding treatment retention. Future studies should investigate the treatment and mental health impacts of reSET® and other mHealth apps within this population.

Smartphone-Based Speech Therapy for Poststroke Dysarthria: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Efficacy and Feasibility.

Dysarthria is a common poststroke speech disorder affecting communication and psychological well-being. Traditional speech therapy is effective but often poses challenges in terms of accessibility and patient adherence. Emerging smartphone-based therapies may offer promising alternatives for the treatment of poststroke dysarthria. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and feasibility of smartphone-based speech therapy for improving speech intelligibility in patients with acute and early subacute poststroke dysarthria. This study also explored the impact of the intervention on psychological well-being, user experience, and overall feasibility in a clinical setting. Participants were divided into 2 groups for this randomized, evaluator-blinded trial. The intervention group used a smartphone-based speech therapy app for 1 hour per day, 5 days per week, for 4 weeks, with guideline-based standard stroke care. The control group received standard guideline-based stroke care and rehabilitation. Speech intelligibility, psychological well-being, quality of life, and user acceptance were assessed using repeated measures ANOVA. In this study, 40 patients with poststroke dysarthria were enrolled, 32 of whom completed the trial (16 in each group). The intervention group showed significant improvements in speech intelligibility compared with the control group. This was evidenced by improvements from baseline (F1,30=34.35; P<.001), between-group differences (F1,30=6.18; P=.02), and notable time-by-group interactions (F1,30=6.91; P=.01). Regarding secondary outcomes, the intervention led to improvements in the percentage of correct consonants over time (F1,30=5.57; P=.03). In addition, significant reductions were noted in the severity of dysarthria in the intervention group over time (F1,30=21.18; P<.001), with a pronounced group effect (F1,30=5.52; P=.03) and time-by-group interaction (F1,30=5.29; P=.03). Regarding quality of life, significant improvements were observed as measured by the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire (F1,30=13.25; P<.001) and EQ-VAS (F1,30=7.74; P=.009) over time. The adherence rate to the smartphone-based app was 64%, with over half of the participants completing all the sessions. The usability of the app was rated high (system usability score 80.78). In addition, the intervention group reported increased self-efficacy in using the app compared with the control group (F1,30=10.81; P=.003). The smartphone-based speech therapy app significantly improved speech intelligibility, articulation, and quality of life in patients with poststroke dysarthria. These findings indicate that smartphone-based speech therapy can be a useful assistant device in the management of poststroke dysarthria, particularly in the acute and early subacute stroke stages. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05146765; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05146765.

Evaluating the impact of movement tracking feedback on engagement with home exercise programmes of children with cerebral palsy using a new therapy app: a protocol for a mixed-methods single-case experimental design with alternating treatments

IntroductionChildren with cerebral palsy (CP) are prescribed home exercise programmes (HEPs) to increase the frequency of movement practice, yet adherence to HEPs can be low. This paper outlines the protocol...

Mental Health Counseling From Conversational Content With Transformer-Based Machine Learning

Use of asynchronous text-based counseling is rapidly growing as an easy-to-access approach to behavioral health care. Similar to in-person treatment, it is challenging to reliably assess as measures of process and content do not scale. To use machine learning to evaluate clinical content and client-reported outcomes in a large sample of text-based counseling episodes of care. In this quality improvement study, participants received text-based counseling between 2014 and 2019; data analysis was conducted from September 22, 2022, to November 28, 2023. The deidentified content of messages was retained as a part of ongoing quality assurance. Treatment was asynchronous text-based counseling via an online and mobile therapy app (Talkspace). Therapists were licensed to provide mental health treatment and were either independent contractors or employees of the product company. Participants were self-referred via online sign-up and received services via their insurance or self-pay and were assigned a diagnosis from their health care professional. All clients received counseling services from a licensed mental health clinician. The primary outcomes were client engagement in counseling (number of weeks), treatment satisfaction, and changes in client symptoms, measured via the 8-item version of Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8). A previously trained, transformer-based, deep learning model automatically categorized messages into types of therapist interventions and summaries of clinical content. The total sample included 166 644 clients treated by 4973 therapists (20 600 274 messages). Participating clients were predominantly female (75.23%), aged 26 to 35 years (55.4%), single (37.88%), earned a bachelor's degree (59.13%), and were White (61.8%). There was substantial variability in intervention use and treatment content across therapists. A series of mixed-effects regressions indicated that collectively, interventions and clinical content were associated with key outcomes: engagement (multiple R = 0.43), satisfaction (multiple R = 0.46), and change in PHQ-8 score (multiple R = 0.13). This quality improvement study found associations between therapist interventions, clinical content, and client-reported outcomes. Consistent with traditional forms of counseling, higher amounts of supportive counseling were associated with improved outcomes. These findings suggest that machine learning-based evaluations of content may increase the scale and specificity of psychotherapy research.

Multi-Media Field Test: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy at Our Fingertips: Sanvello Provides On-Demand Support for Mental Health

Sanvello is a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) app available as a web platform and a native app for both Android and iOS. Sanvello can be used for free, with additional premium content available in a paid version. It is targeted for adults with mild to moderate symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress and has a solid evidence base to support its efficacy. Sanvello is user-friendly and intuitive, with good user experience and appropriate privacy and data security measures. Sanvello’s free version consists mainly of self-care and peer support content, allowing users to engage with tools such as in-app activities personalized through initial user assessments, and community pages. A paid version provides additional content through a subscription model and coaching available for a monthly fee. Professional support is available either through insurance coverage of a pay-per-appointment model. Despite a solid evidence base, various features, and a library of content, identified areas of improvement include expanding the psychoeducation materials and articles to include more timely resources and the diversity of its potential users. For these reasons, we have rated Sanvello with a 5 in utility, and ease of use/overall appeal along with a 4 in appropriateness of content and research evidence. Overall, Sanvello provides a variety of evidence-based cognitive and behavioral skills and, for those with the paid version, the opportunity to connect with professionals for additional support.

Use of the Therapy App Prescinde for Increasing Adherence to Smoking Cessation Treatment.

Tobacco use poses major health risks and is a major contributor to causes of death worldwide. Mobile phone-based cessation apps for this substance are gaining popularity, often used as a component of traditional interventions. This study aimed to analyze adherence to an intervention using a mobile phone application (App-therapy Prescinde (v1)) as a function of sociodemographic variables (age, gender, educational level, and profession) as well as the primary activities supported by the app (reducing tobacco or cannabis use and increasing physical exercise). The participants were recruited through the web pages of the Occupational Risk Prevention Service and the Psychology Clinic of the University of Granada during the COVID-19 confinement period. The application's contents include three components (self-report, motivational phrases, and goal setting). Our findings indicate that being male, being aged between 26 and 62, having a high school education, and being unemployed increase the likelihood of adherence to the Prescinde therapy app three months after usage. Our findings highlight the importance of developing new therapeutic approaches and conducting in-depth studies on the factors associated with adherence to tobacco cessation and cannabis cessation treatments via mobile phone applications.

Gotcha! A trial of an app‐based therapy for proper name anomia in people with dementia

AbstractObjectivesProper name anomia is a common experience that can become amplified in patients with a diagnosis of dementia (PWD). The Gotcha! app aims to provide practice‐based therapy for PWD to relearn the names of key people in their lives. It has been developed according to the principles of errorless learning, which have previously been shown to improve the remembering the familiar people’s names and benefit the relationship between the PWD and their loved ones. (Clare et al, 1999, 2000, 2003).MethodsGotcha! is a digital confrontation naming therapy app which enables patients to train one face per day by using photos that the app represents. During the development phase we carried our qualitative research (thematic analysis) on why PWD get involved in research projects such as ours. Gotcha! therapy block lasts for six weeks and prior to the therapy patients complete a multiple baseline paradigm with eight weekly tests of free naming of the to‐be trained faces. During the therapy, a novel speech verifier is used to provide real‐time feedback (Barbera et al. 2020). Two analyses method is used to investigate the behavioural data: 1) within‐subject non‐parametric analysis using Tau‐U metric (Parker et al. 2011); 2) a parametric group analysis using an ANOVA.ResultsThe thematic analysis revealed four themes that will be discussed in more detail on the talk.In terms of the quantitative data, our results from the first 16 subjects showed: 1) Tau‐U. 73% showed a positive trend with better naming during the training phase with 5/10 reaching statistical significance. 2) ANOVA demonstrated a significant effect at the group level of training&gt;baseline phase, F(1,9) = 6.68, p = .029.

Adding Virtual Reality Mindful Exposure Therapy to a Cancer Center's Tobacco Treatment Offerings: Feasibility and Acceptability Single-Group Pilot Study.

Smoking contributes to 1 in 3 cancer deaths. At the Stanford Cancer Center, tobacco cessation medication management and counseling are provided as a covered benefit. Patients charted as using tobacco are contacted by a tobacco treatment specialist and offered cessation services. As a novel addition, this study examined the acceptability of a virtual reality (VR) mindful exposure therapy app for quitting smoking called MindCotine. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of offering 6 weeks of MindCotine treatment as a part of Stanford's Tobacco Treatment Services for patients seen for cancer care. As part of a single-group pilot study, the MindCotine VR program was offered to English- or Spanish-speaking patients interested in quitting smoking. Given the visual interface, epilepsy was a medical exclusion. Viewed from a smartphone with an attachable VR headset, MindCotine provides a digital environment with audiovisual content guiding mindfulness exercises (eg, breathing techniques, body awareness, and thought recognition), text-based coaching, and cognitive behavioral therapy-based self-reflections for quitting smoking. Interested patients providing informed consent were mailed a MindCotine headset and asked to use the app for 10+ minutes a day. At the end of 6 weeks, participants completed a feedback survey. Of the 357 patients reached by the tobacco treatment specialist, 62 (17.3%) were ineligible, 190 (53.2%) were not interested in tobacco treatment services, and 78 (21.8%) preferred other tobacco treatment services. Among the 105 eligible and interested in assistance with quitting, 27 (25.7%) were interested in MindCotine, of whom 20 completed the informed consent, 9 used the program, and 8 completed their end-of-treatment survey. Participants using MindCotine completed, on average, 13 (SD 20.2) program activities, 19 (SD 26) journal records, and 11 (SD 12.3) coaching engagements. Of the 9 participants who used MindCotine, 4 (44%) reported some dizziness with app use that resolved and 7 (78%) would recommend MindCotine to a friend. In total, 2 participants quit tobacco (22.2% reporting, 10% overall), 2 others reduced their smoking by 50% or more, and 2 quit for 24 hours and then relapsed. In a feasibility and acceptability pilot study of a novel VR tobacco treatment app offered to patients at a cancer center, 4 of 9 (44%) reporting and 4 of 20 (20%) overall substantially reduced or quit using tobacco after 6 weeks and most would recommend the app to others. Further testing on a larger sample is warranted. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05220254; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05220254.

Developing Advanced AI Ecosystems to Enhance Diagnosis and Care for Patients with Depression.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has a significant impact on the daily lives of those affected. This concept paper presents a project that aims at addressing MDD challenges through innovative therapy systems. The project consists of two use cases: a multimodal neurofeedback (NFB) therapy and an AI-based virtual therapy assistant (VTA). The multimodal NFB integrates EEG and fNIRS to comprehensively assess brain function. The goal is to develop an open-source NFB toolbox for EEG-fNIRS integration, augmented by the VTA for optimized efficacy. The VTA will be able to collect behavioral data, provide personalized feedback and support MDD patients in their daily lives. This project aims to improve depression treatment by bringing together digital therapy, AI and mobile apps to potentially improve outcomes and accessibility for people living with depression.

A pilot multiple-baseline study of a mobile cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of eating disorders in university students.

Eating disorders (EDs) are serious psychiatric disorders associated with substantial morbidity and mortality that are prevalent among university students. Because many students do not receive treatment due to lack of access on university campuses, mobile-health (mHealth) adaptations of evidence-based treatments represent an opportunity to increase treatment accessibility and engagement. The purpose of this study was to test the initial efficacy of Building Healthy Eating and Self-Esteem Together for University Students (BEST-U), which is a 10-week mHealth self-guided cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT-gsh) app that is paired with a brief 25-30-min weekly telehealth coaching, for reducing ED psychopathology in university students. A non-concurrent multiple-baseline design (N = 8) was used to test the efficacy of BEST-U for reducing total ED psychopathology (primary outcome), ED-related behaviors and cognitions (secondary outcomes), and ED-related clinical impairment (secondary outcome). Data were examined using visual analysis and Tau-BC effect-size calculations. BEST-U significantly reduced total ED psychopathology and binge eating, excessive exercise, and restriction (effect sizes ranged from -0.39 to -0.92). Although body dissatisfaction decreased, it was not significant. There were insufficient numbers of participants engaging in purging to evaluate purging outcomes. Clinical impairment significantly reduced from pre-to-post-treatment. The current study provided initial evidence that BEST-U is a potentially efficacious treatment for reducing ED symptoms and ED-related clinical impairment. Although larger-scale randomized controlled trials are needed, BEST-U may represent an innovative, scalable tool that could reach greater numbers of underserved university students than traditional intervention-delivery models. Using a single-case experimental design, we found evidence for the initial efficacy of a mobile guided-self-help cognitive-behavioral therapy program for university students with non-low weight binge-spectrum eating disorders. Participants reported significant reductions in ED symptoms and impairment after completion of the 10-week program. Guided self-help programs show promise for filling an important need for treatment among university students with an ED.

Barriers to and Facilitators of a Blended Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program for Depression and Anxiety Based on Experiences of University Students: Qualitative Interview Study.

Blended cognitive behavioral therapy (bCBT) programs have been proposed to increase the acceptance and adoption of digital therapeutics (DTx) such as digital health apps. These programs allow for more personalized care by combining regular face-to-face therapy sessions with DTx. However, facilitators of and barriers to the use of DTx in bCBT programs have rarely been examined among students, who are particularly at risk for developing symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the facilitators of and barriers to the use of a bCBT program with the elona therapy app among university students with mild to moderate depression or anxiety symptoms. Semistructured interviews were conducted via videoconference between January 2022 and April 2022 with 102 students (mean age 23.93, SD 3.63 years; 89/102, 87.2% female) from universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, after they had completed weekly individual cognitive behavioral therapy sessions (25 minutes each) via videoconference for 6 weeks and regularly used the depression (n=67, 65.7%) or anxiety (n=35, 34.3%) module of the app. The interviews were coded based on grounded theory. Many participants highlighted the intuitive handling of the app and indicated that they perceived it as a supportive tool between face-to-face sessions. Participants listed other benefits, such as increased self-reflection and disorder-specific knowledge as well as the transfer of the content of therapy sessions into their daily lives. Some stated that they would have benefited from more personalized and interactive tasks. In general, participants mentioned the time requirement, increased use of the smartphone, and the feeling of being left alone with potentially arising emotions while working on tasks for the next therapy session as possible barriers to the use of the app. Data security was not considered a major concern. Students mostly had positive attitudes toward elona therapy as part of the bCBT program. Our study shows that DTx complementing face-to-face therapy sessions can be perceived as a helpful tool for university students with mild to moderate anxiety or depression symptoms in their daily lives. Future research could elaborate on whether bCBT programs might also be suitable for students with more severe symptoms of mental disorders. In addition, the methods by which such bCBT programs could be incorporated into the university context to reach students in need of psychological support should be explored.

LingoTalk – Entwicklung einer App mit automatischer Spracherkennung für die Aphasietherapie

LingoTalk is a speech therapy app that provides self-training in oral word production. Automatic speech recognition evaluates the correctness and intelligibility of what is said and provides objective feedback. This can increase the frequency of therapy and strengthen the effectiveness of speech therapy treatment. In a single case study, we evaluated the implementation and effectiveness of supervised high-frequency self-training with LingoTalk in chronic aphasia after stroke. It is shown that a three-week training programme brings about demonstrable and sustained improvements in oral word production for practiced and unpracticed terms and has lasting positive effects on spontaneous speech. Keywords:

Supervised exercise therapy apps for claudication

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) has been recognised as a healthcare burden affecting up to 5.56% of the global population over 25 years of age.1 Intermittent claudication (IC) is often debilitating and results in reduced physical activity which is associated with increased cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.2,3 Early identification and management of PAD is essential to improve symptoms and prevent a downward trajectory towards limb loss. Supervised exercise therapy (SET) is the widely recommended first- line treatment for IC. Despite the benefits of SET, uptake and adherence rates are recognised to be poor.4 The reasons for poor SET compliance are multifactorial and include time constraints, travelling distance, personal, financial and institutional barriers.5 To overcome these barriers, alternative methods for delivering SET need to be explored.