# Mobile Health Tools to Promote Health in Adults with FASD

> **NIH NIH UH2** · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · 2021 · $242,550

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Adults with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) experience many barriers to care. Research on the effects
of prenatal alcohol exposure during adulthood is limited and few providers have the knowledge and skills to
effectively serve this population. Adults with FASD need reliable and accessible information to inform decision
making about their health and well-being. Innovative and scalable solutions are needed. The proposed project
aims to meet this need by developing a novel mobile health (mHealth) application (“app”), currently called “My
Health Coach,” to directly provide adults with FASD evidence-based education about their condition and tools
to promote their own self-management and health advocacy goals. We will build on our success with the
Families Moving Forward (FMF) Connect mHealth app for caregivers of younger children with FASD. This will
allow us to extend into adulthood and expedite our ability to innovate adaptations tailored for this population.
This project will follow a systematic approach to the development and evaluation of the My Health Coach app.
We will engage an advisory board of adult leaders with FASD and seek input from key stakeholders at each
step of the development and testing process. We will utilize focus group and survey methodologies to solicit
input from diverse adults to inform development of the My Health Coach app (Aim 1). We will then conduct a
feasibility trial (n=40; Aim 2), including both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to assess the feasibility
and user satisfaction and experiences with the app. The results will inform further refinements of the app and
estimate effect sizes for future larger-scale trials. Implementation data will also aid in identifying the patterns of
app usage that relate to the greatest improvements in outcomes. Study hypotheses include: (1) adults with
FASD will appreciate the simple and engaging design of the app, its ability to organize and remind them of
information, and its delivery of useful content when they need it; (2) participants will vary in their perceived
motivators and barriers for app use; and (3) improvements in pre-post outcomes will be associated with a
usage pattern reflecting more routine app usage and a higher frequency of user interactions with the app.
Results of this study will further the overall strategic aims of the Collaborative Initiative on FASD (CIFASD),
which are to inform and develop effective interventions for FASD. This project integrates two main themes of
CIFASD-4, specifically (1) adult health, and (2) using technology to increase access to care. The project will
also benefit from resources and collaborations within CIFASD to carry out the proposed work, including
integrating findings from other projects into inform intervention content, recruitment of a diverse sample, and
outreach and dissemination. This will be the first study to systematically develop and test an intervention for
adults with FASD targe...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10167433
- **Project number:** 1UH2AA029050-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** CHRISTIE Lynn McGee Petrenko
- **Activity code:** UH2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $242,550
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-02-01 → 2023-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10167433

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10167433, Mobile Health Tools to Promote Health in Adults with FASD (1UH2AA029050-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10167433. Licensed CC0.

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