STTR Phase I: A pediatric care platform to enable personalized and coordinated developmental and behavioral care for children

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project targets the critical need and gap in developmental and behavioral care for children and families. Up to 1 in 5 children have some type of behavioral and/or developmental problem that requires diagnosis. Of these, 80% are likely to have insufficient behavioral or developmental care. There continues to be an overall shortage of qualified developmental and behavioral health clinicians, and specialists struggle to meet the current service demands which have increased dramatically during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently declared a state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health. The proposed platform seeks to enable increased access to effective behavioral care and to allow families to get personalized information and support to address concerns in a timely fashion. The data-driven intelligence may allow for an approach that is scalable and that will serve as a gateway for comprehensive developmental and behavioral health care for children and families. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project applies research in machine intelligence to the personalized developmental and behavioral care support for children and families and helps to address the critical need and current gaps in children’s behavioral health. The proposed research and development bring together a suite of capabilities to allow children and caregivers to get the support and access to care that they need in a timely fashion. The data collected will enable the expansion of the artificial intelligence-driven support. At its foundation, the platform seeks to provide evidence-based content, personalized data-driven behavioral assessments, and facilitated care navigation for families. The platform can use technology to increase the dissemination of behavioral health care information, to provide increased access and real-time support that is tailored to the families’ needs, and to establish a personal and long-lasting relationship with families as their children age and progress through various developmental stages.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.