Grant Report on mCARE: Mobile-Based Care for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) for Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

In low- and middle-income countries, especially in Bangladesh, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may be considered an anathema, and social-cultural-financial constraints mean that there are few facilities available for treatment for ASD children. The revolution in the use of the mobile phone (~80%) by the majority of people in Bangladesh in recent years has created an opportunity to improve the overall scenario in the treatment or remote monitoring process for children with ASD. In this grant project, we planned and developed a mobile phone-based system to remotely monitor children with ASD and help their treatment process both at the caregiver and care practitioner ends. In developing mCARE, we utilized a Remote Experience Sampling Method to design, build, deploy, and study the impact of mobile based monitoring and treatment of children with ASD in Bangladesh. We developed a mobile application using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). A caregiver routinely reported the behavioral and milestone parameters of their children with ASD. The care practitioners monitored the longitudinal data that helped them in decision-making in a particular patient’s treatment process. The Value Sensitive Design (VSD) was used to make this mobile application more user friendly with consideration of the local economic, social, and cultural values in Bangladesh.