{"id":42,"date":"2018-07-23T19:07:15","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T19:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/?page_id=42"},"modified":"2018-12-19T19:52:54","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T19:52:54","slug":"integrating-apps-into-practice","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/home-page\/integrating-apps-into-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Integrating Apps into Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"<pre>by Steven Sturman, Charles Syms and Caitlin Beck - August 2018<\/pre>\n<h2>Using Apps in Clinical Practice<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-12\" src=\"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/07\/practice_circle.fw_-300x300.png\" alt=\"Practicing with Apps Logo\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/07\/practice_circle.fw_-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/07\/practice_circle.fw_-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/07\/practice_circle.fw_-50x50.png 50w, https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/07\/practice_circle.fw_.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Integrating apps into Clinical Practice has the potential to support the practitioner\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 13px\">and client in a helping relationship.\u00a0\u00a0When properly integrated into practice apps have the potential to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Provide additional knowledge about issues clients may be facing<\/li>\n<li>Support the client while outside of the clinical setting<\/li>\n<li>Allow more accurate tracking of issues or symptoms the client faces between sessions<\/li>\n<li>Support the practitioner in documenting work with the client<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Apps that can be used in the clinical setting tend to be either clinician oriented or client oriented.<\/p>\n<h3>Clinician Orientated Apps<\/h3>\n<p>Clinician oriented apps are generally there to aid the clinicians in diagnosis or data acquisition.\u00a0 They can also be used to help facilitate billing and client record keeping.\u00a0 Some examples include apps that aid in ICD 10 or DSM-5 coding, apps that can be used to take HIPAA compliant notes during sessions, or track medical data and treatment progress. (Marley and Farooq, 2015) The data collected in the app can be used by the clinician to assess the effectiveness of interventions with individual clients or for an entire practice, so that the clinician can see how an intervention is working with a specific population.\u00a0 (Novotney, 2016).<\/p>\n<p>There are also apps that a clinician can use to look up information while they are in the field.\u00a0 For instance, there are databases that a clinician could use to review possible side effects of prescriptions their clients may be taking.\u00a0 There are mapping and data tools that a clinician could use to identify services for their clients within the local area.<\/p>\n<h3>Client Orientated Apps<\/h3>\n<p>There are also client orientated apps that clinicians can share with their clients to support the worker-client relationship.\u00a0 Some of these are informative, providing information that the clinician may think would be helpful to the client.\u00a0 Others allow clients to track their symptoms, conditions or activities, which can then be shared with the clinician.\u00a0 Health and wellness apps can be used to track client eating habits, exercise habits, and other health information that may be relevant to their treatment.\u00a0 This real time tracking can be more accurate and more efficient when brought into sessions with clients. (Getz, 2012)<\/p>\n<p>Some apps can be used by clients to receive support when they are in crisis.\u00a0 They can connect clients to crisis response numbers or contacts of emergency responders that they can reach out to.\u00a0 Other apps, such as those that deal with anxiety or depression, may provide simple activities that the client can perform to help them manage symptoms.\u00a0 Certain apps may also connect them with a community of people, so that they can share experiences.<\/p>\n<h3>Client Confidentiality and Privacy Issues<\/h3>\n<p>Using apps in a clinical setting can raise a host of ethical and privacy issues.\u00a0 Before adopting a mobile app for use the practitioner must understand the types of data the app collects and what the app developer does with that data.\u00a0 Many apps list their privacy and data usage policies on their websites or within their app store descriptions.\u00a0 When dealing with sensitive and\/or personal data the data must remain confidential, and if the data is to be used for research or public health purposes the data should be anonymized.\u00a0 (Kotz, Gunter, Kumar &amp; Weiner, 2016)<\/p>\n<p>Before having clients download and use apps on their own devices the clinician and client must discuss the privacy implications of using apps within the therapeutic relationship, this is critically important if sensitive information will be stored in the app or mobile device.\u00a0 This should include conversations about properly securing the phone with password protection so others cannot access the client\u2019s information.\u00a0 The clinician should also inquire if others use the device, such as spouses or partners or children, if they know the password and have access to the device they also may be able to access the clients data.<\/p>\n<h2>Using Apps in Macro Practice<\/h2>\n<p>There are a variety of apps that a practitioner could use in Macro Practice.\u00a0 These apps would be beneficial whether you are working for non-profits promoting specific causes, rallying support for legislative changes, or trying to better connect with your constituencies.\u00a0 These apps have the potential to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Raise awareness for your cause or organization<\/li>\n<li>Publicize events or outreach campaigns<\/li>\n<li>Connect you with volunteers or donors that support your causes<\/li>\n<li>Increase your productivity and help manage your organization and volunteers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are a wide variety of apps that are generic in nature, such as scheduling and project coordination apps, which an agency could use to help manage day to day operations and specific events.\u00a0 These apps can be used to plan out and designate tasks for coordinated campaigns so that you can easily track what is being accomplished and who has responsibility for each task that must be completed.\u00a0 These campaigns can be shared with each team member or volunteer, so that everyone is kept abreast of the progress.<\/p>\n<p>There are apps that can be used to connect you with people that can aid your mission.\u00a0 Apps that help manage social media campaigns by prescheduling posts to your social media channels could be used to automate your outreach efforts and keep you connected with people you currently have relationships with.\u00a0 You can also use apps to promote services and events that your organization provides or sponsors.\u00a0 By getting your constituents to connect with you through an app, you have a direct means of reaching out to them.\u00a0 You may also want to consider developing your own app to connect with your constituents.\u00a0 This would give you a direct channel to them.<\/p>\n<p>You can also use an app to grow your organization or expand upon the services you offer.\u00a0 There are apps that will connect you directly to databases of volunteers who are looking for organizations or specific causes to become involved in.\u00a0 These apps will allow you to pitch your organization to their database of users, and search for volunteers based upon their location and areas of interest.\u00a0 There are also apps that you can use to connect with potential donors to help secure additional funding for your efforts.\u00a0 Once you have made all these connections, there are even apps to help manage your growing network.<\/p>\n<p>There are apps that Social Workers engaged in macro practice might employ to aid in legislative outreach, community organization, or social activism.\u00a0 These apps can connect your constituents with their legislative representatives so they can more easily support legislation or programs that your organization advocates for.\u00a0 There are other apps that will allow you to streamline outreach efforts by digitizing field surveys, thus allowing your organization to create more detailed surveys, track responses in real time, and streamline the data analysis process.<\/p>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<p>Getz, Lindsey (2012, May\/June) <em>Mobile App Technology for Social Workers.<\/em>\u00a0 Retrieved from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.socialworktoday.com\/archive\/051412p8.shtml\">http:\/\/www.socialworktoday.com\/archive\/051412p8.shtml <\/a>February 8, 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Kotz, D., Gunter, C. A., Kumar, S., &amp; Weiner, J. P. (2016). Privacy and Security in Mobile Health: A Research Agenda.\u00a0<em>Computer<\/em>,\u00a0<em>49<\/em>(6), 22\u201330. <a href=\"http:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/MC.2016.185\">http:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/MC.2016.185<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Marley, Justin and Farooq, Saeed (2015, Dec) Mobile telephone apps in mental health practice: uses opportunities and challenges. BJPsych Bull.\u00a0 39(6):\u00a0 228-290.<\/p>\n<p>McNiell, Paula and NcArthur, Erin (2015, June) What mobile apps are useful for your clinical practice? The Clinical Advisor.\u00a0 Retrieved from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clinicaladvisor.com\/what-mobile-apps-are-useful-for-your-clinical-practice\/printarticle\/417998\/\">https:\/\/www.clinicaladvisor.com\/what-mobile-apps-are-useful-for-your-clinical-practice\/printarticle\/417998\/<\/a> June 5, 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Steven Sturman, Charles Syms and Caitlin Beck &#8211; August 2018 Using Apps in Clinical Practice Integrating apps into Clinical Practice has the potential to support the practitioner\u00a0and client in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":276,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-42","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/42\/revisions\/279"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/happe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}