{"id":416332,"date":"2020-04-07T10:50:26","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T14:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=416332"},"modified":"2025-07-17T15:08:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T19:08:58","slug":"first-app-for-caregivers-of-children-with-fasd-reaches-trial-stage-416332","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/first-app-for-caregivers-of-children-with-fasd-reaches-trial-stage-416332\/","title":{"rendered":"First mobile app for caregivers of children with FASD reaches trial stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the summer of 2017, Christie Petrenko<\/a>, an assistant professor and research associate at the URochester\u2019s\u00a0Mt. Hope Family Center<\/strong><\/a>, and Cristiano Tapparello<\/strong><\/a>, a research assistant professor in the University’s\u00a0Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering<\/a>, teamed up to create the first mobile phone app for caregivers of children\u00a0with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(FASD).<\/p>\n

Through previous research<\/a>, Petrenko, who is a recognized expert on a FASD, knew of the many challenges \u00a0parents and caregivers face: isolation the lack of access to specialized care, limited financial resources, the stigma associated with the disability, and ultimately the caregivers\u2019 quest for readily available and scientifically sound information.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany families have little to no access to the kinds of information and parenting strategies that are most helpful in managing the behavior of children with FASD,\u201d Petrenko says. \u201cThey also need support from others who understand their experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders affect around 2 to 5 percent of school-aged children in the United States and can result in lifelong developmental, cognitive, and behavioral problems.<\/p>\n

Previous studies have pointed out that available online information for parents of children with developmental disabilities may lack in quality, consistency, and readability. In the past two-and-a-half years, the duo has designed, coded, assembled and written the content for their mobile health intervention app, FMF Connect.<\/em> Its name and content are derived from the scientifically validated Families Moving Forward Program<\/a>, developed at the\u00a0Seattle Children\u2019s Research Institute and the University of Washington. The researchers took mock-ups of the app to seven focus groups across the country, and then followed up with two beta tests.<\/p>\n

The FMF Connect<\/em> app allows users to easily access five distinct components:<\/p>\n