The updated Positive Activity Jackpot app from the Defense Health Agency (DHA) provides a fantastic opportunity for primary care and behavioral health providers to prescribe a highly useful, fun, and easy-to-use app for their patients. The app can provide hours of fun for patients to build resilience and keep their mind off negative depressive symptoms. The app could be improved by deeper integration of the app with the user’s mobile device.
Until recently, Positive Activity Jackpot was only available for Android. Now it has been updated and available for iOS as well. The app utilizes a type of behavioral therapy for depression called pleasant event scheduling (PES). The app is NOT meant to be a substitute for the “gold standard” depression treatments of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and/or medications. Instead, the app is intended to be prescribed along with those proven treatments to help patients build resilience and resist the negative thoughts that can cause anhedonia and other depression symptoms. The app provides a “jackpot” of activities via an augmented reality game that resembles a slot machine and utilizes the user’s GPS/location services for suggestions.
All in all, it’s a must-have app for any provider who treats depression or similar mental health issues.
Likes
- Fills a gap for a prescribable app for depressed patients via an augmented reality game
- Great number of activities to choose from and the ability to create/customize own activities
- Available for Android and iOS
Dislikes
- User interface still seems a bit basic yet cluttered
- GPS integration/locality suggestions inconsistent/not deeply integrated
- Occasional bugs leading to unintended “pulls” on the slot machine
This post originally appeared on iMedicalApps.com.
Source: MedicalNewsToday.com
