# Building Mobile Technologies to Reduce Health Disparities in Congenital Heart Disease

> **NIH NIH K23** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $63,056

## Abstract

Project Summary
The growing congenital heart disease adolescent survivor population faces two major health disparities in care:
(1) poor care transition (an age and developmentally appropriate process, addressing the medical,
psychosocial and educational/vocational aspects of care) from child-centered to adult-centered healthcare; and
(2) lack of appropriate transfer of care (the point at which an adult cardiac provider assumes the medical care
of a CHD patient). The transition period is a vulnerable time for adolescents with CHD, and many drop-out from
active health care. Dropping out leads to poor health outcomes, and does not allow for appropriate transfer to
adult care. The newly validated SMART (Socio-ecological Model of Adolescent & young adult Readiness for
Transition) model has the potential to improve this process, by targeting modifiable variables for intervention in
the transition and transfer process through assessments of five parameters: adolescent socio-demographics,
disease characteristics and knowledge, skills/self-efficacy, relationships and psychosocial functioning. Using
SMART, our research will engage CHD adolescents and promote transition and transfer using a modality that
universally defines their generation: mobile technology. The overall objective of this proposal is to identify
transition needs for CHD adolescents, facilitate transfer of care, and adapt SMART for these needs by
developing and piloting an interactive e-health (mobile based) platform that will promote the key knowledge
and skills that adolescents need to successfully transition and transfer to adult care. The mobile-based
platform will target modifiable variables to improve transition and transfer of care for CHD adolescents.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10394021
- **Project number:** 3K23HL127164-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Keila Natilde Lopez
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $63,056
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10394021

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10394021, Building Mobile Technologies to Reduce Health Disparities in Congenital Heart Disease (3K23HL127164-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10394021. Licensed CC0.

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