Just-in-time adaptive interventions provide patients with the right type and amount of support at the right time. They are highly individualized for each user and hold the potential to radically improve the efficacy while reducing the cost of behavioral healthcare.

The technology already exists to monitor patients’ states throughout the day with in-phone and wearable sensors and to automatically present intervention content based on decision rules determined by the clinical team. However, the clinical research on the efficacy of using these technologies to deliver behavioral health and precision medicine interventions is lagging behind the availability of the technology.

Part of the challenge researchers face is accessing software to allow them to test their interventions. Software development is costly and takes time. Intervention development requires the ability to test intervention content and decision rules quickly, view the results, and refine the intervention. This rapid iterative process is necessary to develop new mobile interventions and translate evidence-based interventions that have been delivered in-person into mobile interventions.