I-Corps: A Novel Approach to Parent-Child Communication

Award ID: 2224291

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of digital health technologies (e.g., wearable devices and personalized medicine) that can be used to address sexual health problems. There are nearly 10 million new cases of sexually transmitted disease (STD) each year in the U.S. Treatments for STDs are estimated to cost $16 billion annually. The proposed technologies seek to improve education and communication and, in doing so, may provide positive health outcomes for both individuals and their families. This I-Corps project is based on the development improved parent-child communications and the reduction of healthcare costs associated sexually-transmitted diseases among adolescents. This innovation stems from the combination of several elements including building motivation for communication by shifting parental mindsets, providing skill-building exercises, and providing a new platform for parent-child communication. This combination of features is not currently available in any other book, website, or product on the market. 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.

NSF Program Director: Molly Wasko