MoodTracker: a mobile app for monitoring psychological health

ShareThe Apps for the Army (A4A) competition recently announced the winners for their first internal applications-development challenge, and DCoE’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2) won gold in the morale, welfare and recreation category for their Telehealth Mood Tracker mobile application.

“We want to accommodate the military’s psychological health needs with 21st century technologies,” said Dr. Greg Gahm, director of T2. “Creating tools for wellness requires a working commitment between the psychologists and the technology specialists. I am proud of the T2 team for their accomplishment in the Apps for the Army challenge and their desire to support the military community with innovative and adaptive technologies.”

T2 MoodTracker allows service members to track their moods. Users can self-monitor their mood variations daily, weekly, monthly or even from hour to hour, which helps service members understand the impact of stress and common emotional reactions that follow a deployment.

Service members track their moods on a touch screen using a visual analogue scale which allows users to choose a point on a color continuum to reflect their current emotions, such as feelings of sadness, depression, anxiety or stress.

The application also has the capacity to store information which is helpful for service members who want to be able to share their information with a health care provider.

According to Dr. Robert Ciulla, psychologist and division lead, T2 MoodTracker is one of the initial tools in a series of mobile applications under development. “T2 recognizes the need to craft tools that are quickly accessed, self-paced and support confidential use,” said Ciulla.

The Apps for the Army challenge began in March, asking developers to submit software applications for mobile phones and other “smart” devices that help overcome mission-related challenges. The winning apps support service members in physical training, psychological health, disaster relief, mapping and recruiting. Visit Army.mil for more information about the competition and other winners.