mCAT: a mobile habit-forming tool to help adults take blood pressure meds regularly
Official title: mobile Cued Adherence Therapy (mCAT): a scalable habit formation intervention to improve blood pressure medication adherence based on a widely used smartphone app
Funded at Arizona State University-Tempe Campus · NIH-11348159 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A smartphone app-based program helps adults with hypertension, especially Medicaid enrollees, form lasting habits to take their blood pressure medications.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Arizona State University-Tempe Campus NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Scottsdale, United States) |
| Project start | July 22, 2024 |
| Project end | May 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $718,310 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL171706-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11348159 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults 21+ with hypertension who use Android smartphones and are enrolled in Medicaid or similar programs.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals without access to or comfort with Android devices may not benefit from this app-based approach.
What this research studies
This project partners with a popular Wellth app to reward daily pill-taking with incentives and then tests whether people continue taking their medications after incentives stop. It uses known habit-building and present-bias concepts to encourage consistent anti-hypertensive adherence. The study will track medication-taking behavior via app evidence and measure how well adherence is maintained over time. It targets adults 21 and older with hypertension, focusing on those enrolled in Medicaid who face adherence challenges. The results could inform scalable, digital strategies to prevent cardiovascular events by improving long-term medication routines.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help people sustain blood pressure control and reduce risk of heart disease and stroke through a scalable smartphone-based habit intervention.
How similar studies have gone: Digital habit-formation and incentive-based adherence strategies have shown promise in short-term improvements, but long-term maintenance remains an open area.
Where this research is happening
-
Arizona State University-Tempe Campus
Scottsdale, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Stecher, Chad Daniel — Arizona State University-Tempe Campus
- Study coordinator: Stecher, Chad Daniel
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Using a smartphone app to help people remember to take their blood pressure medication
This study is looking at how a smartphone app can help people on Medicaid remember to take their blood pressure medicine by letting them earn rewards for showing they took their pills each day, making it easier to stick to their treatment plan.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.