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Pilot testing "Teach Ted": A digital application for children undergoing blood tests and their parents
Christina Signorelli1,2, Lauren Kelada1,2, Claire E Wakefield1,2
1Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.
Insights
Teach Ted, an educational app for children, was found acceptable by parents and healthcare professionals. While perceived anxiety reduction was noted, further studies are needed to confirm its impact on children's blood test outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Medical Technology
- Digital Health Interventions
Background:
- Blood tests can cause anxiety and pain in children.
- Educational tools can help prepare children for medical procedures.
- Mobile applications offer a novel approach to pediatric patient education.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the acceptability of the "Teach Ted" mobile application for children undergoing blood tests.
- To gather preliminary evidence on the impact of "Teach Ted" on children's anxiety and pain.
- To assess the perceptions of parents and health professionals regarding the app's utility.
Main Methods:
- A pilot study involving parents and health professionals of children aged 4-10 years.
- Parents completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires on anxiety and pain.
- Health professionals provided feedback on patient outcomes and procedure duration.
Main Results:
- High acceptability reported by 8/9 parents and all participating health professionals.
- Parents perceived "Teach Ted" helped reduce their/child's anxiety (60-67%).
- No statistically significant changes in child's pain or anxiety, or procedure duration, were observed (p > 0.05).
Conclusions:
- The "Teach Ted" mobile application is acceptable for use in pediatric blood testing scenarios.
- Further research is required to conclusively determine the app's impact on patient outcomes.
- "Teach Ted" shows potential as an innovative tool for educating children about medical procedures.
Objective:
In this pilot study, we evaluated the acceptability and preliminary evidence of the impact of a new educational mobile application, "Teach Ted", for children undergoing blood tests.
Methods:
Parents of children (4-10 years) completed questionnaires on anxiety and pain before their child had a blood test, and after using Teach Ted and receiving their blood test. Health professionals at each patient's blood test (e.g. technician/nurse) completed questionnaires on patient outcomes and procedure-related outcomes (e.g. time taken).
Results:
Nine parents and eight health professionals participated. All but one parent (n = 8/9) reported Teach Ted was useful. Seventy-eight percent (n = 7/9) reported they would use Teach Ted again. All health professionals who completed the acceptability measure (n = 3/3) strongly agreed that Teach Ted was relevant/helpful. Many parents perceived Teach Ted helped reduce their/child's anxiety (n = 3/5, 60% and n = 4/6, 67% respectively), although child's pain and child's/parent's anxiety remained similar before and after using Teach Ted (all p > 0.05). The average blood test duration was 7.6 min (range ≤1 to 22), which health professionals (n = 3/3) reported was not elongated by offering Teach Ted.
Conclusions:
Participants reported that Teach Ted was acceptable. Further evaluation of Teach Ted's impact on patient's outcomes are needed.
Innovation:
Teach Ted is an innovative mobile application with potential to educate young children about their upcoming procedure and mitigate negative outcomes.
