By Graeme Ossey

We are excited to announce the finalists of the Shire ADHD Transitions Challenges! The five finalists submitted innovative ideas for web or mobile apps that will help young adults, who are entering college or the workforce, manage their medication and help them conquer daily organizational and life management challenges. Let’s meet the finalists!

• The ActionsHero App works the way that the ADHD brain works best; fast-paced, fun and with instant rewards. It takes time management to the next level in an integrative, fun way that keeps people actively involved on a daily basis and moving forward in small steps. Breaking down tasks into 8 areas of life helps maintain important priorities and gives the balanced outlook often missing in schedule planning.

• ADHDGo will provide developmentally appropriate help to young people with ADHD through social support opportunities, practical life skills, expert information and self-management tools as they transition from adolescence through college and ultimately to the working world. The product utilizes a single convenient mobile website that is available anywhere at any time via desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet.

• GenR Media has created the Life Balance Zone – College Life app. The app contains 4 main zones that are designed to support the student throughout their time in college – Planning Zone, Study Zone, Resource Zone, Reward Zone. Features like required study time and morning check-ins are built in the app to help the student balance their life in college and stay on track and reward him/her extra study breaks, playing a brain game featured in the app, or using small reward gift cards given by friends or family.

• Omniscience Mobile and Rebar Interactive has created the Traxer App which is designed to provide a suite of support tools uniquely suited to the needs of the young adult with ADHD. In our research, we found that individuals with ADHD frequently utilize the standard features of the mobile phone (such as reminders, voice notes, calendars, to-do lists), but they often find that these tools are not optimized for their needs. The app identifies many potential features that utilize the most advanced capabilities of the modern smartphone and tailor the features to each unique user.

• Zenity Health has developed MyClarity, a mobile app specifically designed to assist ADHD patients enhance their time management skills and reinforce positive self-image and behaviors while providing a pleasant and simple user experience. The app aims to provide time management tools and medication reminders along with encouragement, useful information and rewards to aid young adults with ADHD manage unstructured environments.

Each team has been awarded $5,000 for their excellent work in phase I.  In Phase II judging, the top 3 winners will be selected from the 5 finalists. The first place team will walk away with $100,000, while the second and third place winners will win $20,000 and $5,000, respectively.

In phase II, the finalist apps will be judged on their:

• Technical Development (i.e. Complexity and functionality of what was built)
• Potential impact to improve the quality of life for users
• Potential to connect users to health resources
• Design, usability and intuitiveness
• Creativity and innovation
• Market potential and opportunity for commercialization

The winners of phase II will be announced at the Health 2.0 Fall Conference, occurring September 29 to October 2 in Santa Clara, California.

Thanks again to all the teams that entered and looking forward to the final submissions!