In 2016, I (Claris) was diagnosed with scoliosis, the abnormal curvature of one’s spine. This condition affects over a hundred million people worldwide. About 6 months after my first appointment, my curve had significantly increased, and I was told to wear a back brace and begin Schroth therapy, specialized physical therapy for scoliosis. After wearing a back brace and doing Schroth therapy for over two years, I know that it is stressful and emotionally challenging. For one, wearing the brace was tiring and I found it hard to find motivation to wear this hard plastic corset around me and do Schroth therapy every day! However, as time went on, I began to realize that I was not alone as I saw other patients in Seattle Children’s Hospital with scoliosis back braces. So, I wanted to find a way for other patients like me to overcome the difficulties of finding motivation to wear the brace and do Schroth therapy.

We (Claris and Cleah) held many group discussions between the two of us to brainstorm ways to solve this pressing problem. We decided we could build an app! But what kind of app and what features would it have? More brainstorming! We held many discussions and brainstormed about twenty different features our app could have. After even more discussions we narrowed down to the four specific features of our app. The four features are Record Exercise Video, Setup Exercise Plan, Start Exercise Session, and Log in Brace Hours. We used Thunkable Classic to build the Android version of our app, and we later used Thunkable X for the iOS version. These are drag and drop app builders.

Based on personal experience with scoliosis, we built MyScoliCare, an app for managing bracing and Schroth therapy. During the process, we spent long hours and overcame numerous failures. At times when we almost did feel like giving up, we learned to persevere knowing that this app had the potential to help girls and boys with scoliosis worldwide. Finally, after months of hard work on MyScoliCare we published the app to the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. There are four main features of the app: exercise setup where the therapist enters the individual’s personalized Schroth plan, guidance through the Schroth exercises, tracking the brace wear, and a very special reward system.

We reached out to over 200 certified Schroth therapists globally including those from South Africa, Spain, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, the US, Greece, and Brazil and have been getting positive responses. We also presented our app at the annual Columbia University Medical Conference and have been in contact with authoritative Schroth therapists including Dr. Manuel Rigo and Dr. Hagit Berdishevesky.